Unfortunately, Illinois often finds itself around the bottom of good lists, and at or near the top of the bad lists. Sometimes, albeit rarely, we find a good list that Illinois actually holds a high position on. Today, we learn that Illinois is a pretty good state for working moms.

The number-crunchers at WalletHub, with an eye on Mother's Day, took a look at all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) to see where women who juggle family and career have the most and least advantage. Here in Illinois, our state lands in the #6 overall position.

From WalletHub.com:

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 day care to public schools — is also far from uniform as well. So, in order to help ease the burden on an inherently underappreciated segment of the population, WalletHub’s analysts compared state dynamics across 13 key metrics to identify the Best & Worst States for Working Moms.

The top 5 (overall) best states for working mothers are:

  1. Vermont
  2. Minnesota
  3. Connecticut
  4. North Dakota
  5. Massachusetts

The bottom 5:

  1. Alaska
  2. Louisiana
  3. South Carolina
  4. Alabama
  5. Nevada

As for Illinois, we are at #6 overall, with the breakdown looking like this:

Life as a Working Mom in Illinois (1=Best; 25=Avg.)

  • 7th – Day-Care Quality
  • 28th – Access to Pediatric Services
  • 9th – Gender Pay Gap (Women’s Earnings as % of Men’s)
  • 25th – Ratio of Female Executives to Male Executives
  • 4th – Median Women’s Salary (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
  • 9th – Parental Leave Policy
  • 20th – Length of Average Woman’s Workday
  • 29th – % of Single-Mom Families in Poverty

For the full WalletHub report on working mothers, click here.

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