These are the 10 best and worst states for working mothers

About 73% of women with children under the age of 18 work, but they face an uphill battle. On average women earn 83 cents to every dollar a man earns, but this drops to 73 cents for working mothers. They also take on an average of two hours more of daily unpaid household labor, according to the Institute For Women’s Policy Research.



A study by personal-finance website WalletHub analyzed the top 10 best and worst states for working mothers based on the median women’s salary, the average female unemployment rate, and day-care quality. They found the top 10 states for working mothers were:



Massachusetts Rhode Island  Connecticut Washington, D.C. Wisconsin Minnesota Vermont New Jersey Maine Delaware



The worst states were:



Louisiana South Carolina Alabama Mississippi West Virginia Idaho New Mexico Oklahoma Nevada Arizona



“Companies should provide flexibility—in the sense of ceding control more to workers—defining goals for them and then letting them reach them where and when they can best work. With clear goals and meaningful deadlines, workers typically do the work well and in a way that allows them to be full citizens, taking care also of family and community,” Lotte Bailyn a professor emerita at MIT, commented.