 Emphasize Economic & Political Disparities Among States Alaska ranked 6th as one of the best states... November 20, 2002
The States report ranks and grades the best and worst states for women, presenting data for each state (and the District of Columbia) on 30 indicators of women's status and ranks each state for women's overall status in five areas:
The report is published by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR), a Washington, D.C. based research organization. Edited by IWPR Study Director Dr. Amy Caiazza, this is the 4th edition in the States series and presents an updated national overview. The Best and Worst States For Women
Massachusetts, which was not among the top states in 2000, is now tied for first with Minnesota and Vermont. Primarily, this is due to improvements in women's representation - with the election of a woman lieutenant governor who then became governor - and in women's reproduction rights. Also new to the top ten is Maine, while Colorado and Hawaii dropped down. Minnesota jumped from fifth to first, while Connecticut dropped from first to fourth. Indiana joined the ranks of the worst states for the first time, primarily because its proportion of women in the state legislature dropped by half between 2000 and 2002. Alabama rose from 49th to 46th, but Oklahoma and Kentucky fell three places. For the third time in a row, since 1998, Mississippi remains the worst state for women in the United States. The report details how much women's rights and status vary among the states, and even within states, based on race and earnings. Says IWPR's president and CEO Heidi Hartmann, "We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go," in noting that today's women have more education, are better represented in the workforce, and have made strides in narrowing the wage gap. "Even if a woman went to college in Massachusetts, opened her own business in California, got pregnant in Hawaii, earned her living in Washington, D.C., and ran for office in Washington state, she would still not have equality with men," says Amy Caiazza. "In the 21st century, in the United States of America, a woman needs to live in at least four states and the District simultaneously, just to reach a level of near equality in this country," she adds. "I'd like to think all our states provide a decent environment for American women," says Barbara Gault, IWPR's Director of Research, "but the reality is that many do not. Our search for the one state that could earn the Ms. America title came up short. Those who think feminism is dead, or should be, need to take a closer look at the data." What's Promising
What's Disappointing
THE INDICATORS Political Participation The report looks at four aspects of women's political status:
Hawaii has the lowest registration rate for women in the country and North Dakota has the highest with more than 40 percentage points dividing the two. Minnesota has the highest rate of women's voter participation (67.9 percent) and Arizona the lowest (41.4 percent). Only four states have ever sent two women to the Senate simultaneously. Six states have never sent a woman to either house of Congress. Employment and Earnings The employment and earnings composite index combines four indicators of women's economic status: women's earnings, the wage gap, women in management and professional jobs, and women's participation in the labor force overall. Women earn the most in Washington, D.C., and come the closest to wage-earning equality with men there - earning 89.2 percent of men's earnings for full-time, year-round work. Women in Wyoming only earn 64.4 percent of men's wages. Overall, women's earnings tend to be higher in the West, Northeast and parts of the Midwest. They are lower in the Southeast and Mountain states. Social and Economic Autonomy The social and economic autonomy composite index combines four indicators of women's ability to have control over their social and economic lives: health insurance, college education, business ownership, and poverty rates. Women in the Northeast, West
and parts of the Midwest are most likely to have a college degree
and own a business compared with women in other states. Women
in the Northeast and Midwest also are more likely to have health
insurance and to live above the poverty In Louisiana, 20 percent of women live in poverty; only 7 percent of women in New Hampshire do. The West has six of the top ten states for women's business ownership; Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. also rank high on this indicator. Women own the fewest businesses in the mid-section of the South and in the Mountain states. Reproductive Rights Most of states show a mixed commitment to reproductive freedom, but women's reproductive rights are continually challenged in every state. Women who live in Mississippi, North and South Dakota have extreme challenges to their reproductive rights. Women living in Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, and Vermont have better access to reproductive rights. Health and Well-Being The Mountain states and parts of the Midwest rank well; states in the South and other parts of the Midwest do not. Utah and Hawaii's women have good health status, especially when compared with women in states like Kentucky and D.C. Overall, women are healthiest in Utah and Hawaii. In every state, disparities in health status are linked to race and ethnicity. African American women are much more likely to die of heart disease and breast cancer, and to have AIDS, than white women.
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