The best and worst states for working moms REVEALED: Is your home on the list?

Massachusetts is the best state for working mothers, according to a new study.

Personal finance website WalletHub analyzed each state based on three key metrics: child care, professional opportunities and “work-life balance.”

Factors such as the cost of child care in the state, the quality of the school system, the gender pay gap, the average salary for women, parental leave policies and the average length of a woman’s work week were taken into account.

Women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce — and according to WalletHub, 74 percent of mothers with children under 18 will be working in 2023.

But many working mothers still face an uphill battle in the workplace. On average, a woman’s hourly wage in the US is only 82 percent of what men earn.

But some states are doing more to address these issues, the study found, with parental leave policies and infrastructure quality varying significantly across the country.

Working mothers can also benefit from a relatively short work week, as the average woman in Massachusetts works about 35.5 hours per week, it found.

The quality of education in the state is also high, as Massachusetts has some of the best public schools in the country.

Rhode Island ranks second on the list of the best states for working mothers.

It has the lowest gender pay gap in the country, with women earning 99.6 percent of what men earn, according to WalletHub.

It also has some of the most pediatricians per capita and childcare workers per capita, making it easier for mothers to find a place to send their children during the day while they are at work.

However, it does have one of the most expensive childcare costs in the country, the study found.

Third on the list is the District of Columbia, followed by Connecticut and Minnesota.

“Working mothers must carefully balance career options with factors that provide a good environment for their children when deciding where to live,” said WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe.

“The best states offer fair pay for women and opportunities for career advancement, along with strong parental leave policies and high-quality childcare, health care and schools.

‘This gives working mothers both the financial options and the peace of mind of not having to choose between a career and a family.’

On the other end of the spectrum, WalletHub ranked Alabama as the worst state for working mothers.

The state ranks in the bottom 10 for child care, professional opportunities and work-life balance.

It is one of the five worst states for child care systems and for the ratio of female to male managers, the study found.

The second worst state for working mothers is Louisiana, followed by Mississippi, Nevada and Idaho.

Louisiana also ranks among the five worst states for child care systems – as well as for the gender wage gap.

The study also found that blue states are friendlier to working mothers than red states.

It comes after a separate study earlier this year found that the high cost of childcare makes it almost impossible for many parents to afford it.

According to the Department of Health’s definition, child care is not “affordable” in any of the 50 states, but some areas face higher costs than others.

New Mexico has the least affordable child care in the country, according to data from GOBankingRates.

The report shows that families there have to spend more than 15 percent of their income on childcare. This is nearly double the amount families spend in the most affordable states.

In South Dakota, the cheapest state, families typically spend 9 percent of their wages on child care.

But the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines “affordable” as 7 percent of a person’s income. Based on those criteria, no state offers affordable child care to its residents.

One reason for rising childcare costs across the country is an increase in demand – coupled with a labor shortage.

In September 2023, the government also pulled the plug on pandemic-era support for childcare centers, increasing pressure on the sector.