It's not easy being a working mother, but the right support system can make a difference for women and their families.
Without federal programs like paid leave or universal child care to help support working moms and their kids, many working families are left to their own devices to find the right professional and personal fit. But there are a few states in the U.S. that could make this slightly easier for working families — and WalletHub ranked all 50 and the District of Columbia to find the best and worst geographies for working moms.
The personal finance platform looked at metrics related to professional development, child care accessibility and overall work-life balance to identify which states provided the most benefits for mothers. East Coast states including Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut took the top spots, due to higher paying professional roles and a greater population of child care workers in these areas. Southern states including Louisiana, South Carolina and Alabama came in at the bottom.
Read more: With 3 toddlers at home, child care benefits allow this CEO 'to function'
Of course, employers in any state can do more to support working families — offering equitable pay for both women and men, providing flexible work environments so employees can balance work and home responsibilities, and offering a suite of parent-friendly benefits have all become must-haves for employees today.
"Companies could allow for flexible work hours, a mix of face-to-face and hybrid work, or the possibility of a four-day workweek," says Jennifer Borda, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, who commented on WalletHub's findings. "Supervisors should also check in with employees regularly and ask not just how their work is going, but how their life is going, as that may be impacting their satisfaction or ability to focus."
Check out how these states scored in WalletHub's ranking — each state was given a score out of 100.
