South Carolina Ranked as the 4th Worst State for Working Moms in latest study by WalletHub

In the latest 2022 study by WalletHub of the Best and Worst States for Working Moms, South Carolina ranked 48th out of 51 (4th lowest in the nation). South Carolina also has the 2nd lowest female to male executive ratio.

On a positive note, South Carolina has the 4th lowest child care costs as a percentage of median women’s income.

Overall, South Carolina ranked 45h in work-life balance, 48th in opportunities, and 45th in child care.

Please see below for a summary and state-by-state rankings.

About the Study from WalletHub

Women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, and nearly 68% of moms with children under age 18 were working in 2021. Unfortunately, the share of women in the workforce declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping around 1.3% between Q3 2019 and Q3 2021 (compared to 1.1% for men).

Even during non-pandemic times, working moms still face an uphill battle in the workplace, as their average hourly wage is only 84% of what men make, and only 6.2% of S&P 500 companies’ chief executives are women. Such obvious inequality brings up not just financial questions but also deeply ingrained social issues. For instance, should women have to choose between career and family?

The real question, however, is what we’re doing about these fundamental problems. Progress appears to be taking shape at different rates across the nation. Not only do parental leave policies and other legal support systems vary by state, but the quality of infrastructure — from cost-effective daycare to public schools — is far from uniform as well.

In order to help ease the burden on an underappreciated segment of the population, WalletHub compared state dynamics across 17 key metrics to identify the Best & Worst States for Working Moms.

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