California Ranks Among Worst States In US For Working Moms
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Life as a working mom in California isn't all that golden, according to a new survey.
The "2019's Best & Worst States for Working Moms" report from WalletHub found California ranked as the worst state for median women's salary and near the bottom in daycare quality and female jobless rates.
The study compared conditions for a working mother in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 16 key metrics, ranging from salary to pediatricians per capita to childcare costs.
Here's how California ranked across each of the categories (1st = best, 25th = avg.):
49th - Day-Care Quality
44th - Child-Care Costs (Adjusted for Median Women's Salary)
25th - Pediatricians per Capita
15th - Gender Pay Gap (Women's Earnings as % of Men's)
30th - Ratio of Female Executives to Male Executives
50th - Median Women's Salary (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
46th - Female Unemployment Rate
17th - Avg. Length of Woman's Workday (in Hours)
18th - % of Single-Mom Families in Poverty
Overall, California was ranked 40th in the nation for best states for working moms. Massachussetts, with top rankings in childcare and work-life balance, was ranked number one, while Louisiana was dead last.
Araceli Quintero, a working mom at the nonprofit Pathways LA and helps other working moms find affordable childcare, says she has thousands of names on the waiting list for childcare subsidies.
And with school getting out soon, Quintero says more working moms are in a bind.
"Many of our families are leaving their children home alone, leaving them with iPads, technologies, TVs, putting them at risk," she said, adding that a bill working its way through the state legislature could spend as much as $1 billion toward expanding childcare subsidies statewide.
Click here to read the report.