Georgia ranks among the worst states in nation for working moms

In a new report, Georgia ranked among the worst states in the nation for working moms.

Personal finance website WalletHub compared all 50 states (and Washington, D.C.) across three key dimensions: child care, professional opportunities and work-life balance.

Within those categories, the study factored in metrics like cost and quality of child care, gender pay gap, number of female executives, parental-leave policies and average commute times.

“Even during non-pandemic times, working moms face an uphill battle in the workplace,” the report states.

WalletHub also notes that parental leave policies and legal support systems are different state to state, which presents working moms in different regions with different challenges.

After crunching the numbers, Georgia came in at No. 42 on the overall list. The Peach State ranked in the middle of the pack for professional opportunities, but was the worst in the nation on its work-life balance rank.

Here’s a look at how Georgia scored: 

Overall rank: 42
Child care rank: 38
Professional opportunities rank: 26
Work-life balance rank: 51
Total score: 38.51

Georgia is joined in the 10 worst states for working moms by its southern neighbors Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and Arkansas.

One of the state’s northern neighbors, Tennessee, came in the middle of the pack at No. 23.

However, despite much of the Southeast scoring so low on the list, WalletHub concluded that red states, based on the 2016 presidential election, are friendlier to working moms.

These are the top 10 states for working moms, according to WalletHub: