Maine is No. 1 for women's equality in workplace, politics
When it comes to women's equality, Maine is tops in the country, according to the results of a WalletHub survey published Tuesday.
The personal finance website compared the 50 states across 17 key indicators of gender equality in the areas of workplace environment, education and health and political empowerment.
Workplace environment indicators included disparities in income, unemployment rates and job security among men and women, while political empowerment was measured by gender disparity in the share of lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate, state-elected lawmakers and state-elected executives.
The Pine Tree State was the second-best in education and health and political empowerment, and No. 8 for workplace environment.
Hawaii, Nevada and New York were next on the overall list at No. 2, 3 and 4, while Utah was ranked last.
Researchers note that in general, women are disproportionately represented in leadership positions and that there's still an earnings gap between men and women, though there's disagreement on the proper method to measure that.
WalletHub writer Adam McCann also points to National Women's Law Center data showing that nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage workers across the country are female.
In the political arena, WalletHub notes that while women are unrepresented in government, the 116th Congress saw the largest rise in female members since the 1990s.
A separate WalletHub document on Maine's results shared with Mainebiz shows the state had the narrowest gender gap in terms of higher incomes and unemployment rates, and so ranked No. 1 in those categories.
However, Maine has some catching up to do in terms of women's entrepreneurship rates and share of executive positions, where it came in No. 13 and No. 15, respectively.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments