Analysis: Georgia is the sixth worst state for women’s equality
The good news is the United States moved up 23 spots on the World Economic Forum’s ranking of gender equality in 156 countries. The bad news is we’re still not in the top 25, coming in this year at No. 30.
Even worse news for women in Georgia is an analysis by WalletHub, which determined the Peach State is the sixth worst in the country.
Despite advances toward social equality, women are disproportionately underrepresented in leadership positions. Women make up more than 50% of the population, but constitute only around 27% of legislators and 25% of Fortune 500 board seats.
Women have also face inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women were initially laid off at a greater rate than men and were then reemployed more slowly.
To determine where women receive the most equal treatment in the U.S., WalletHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: workplace environment, education and health, and political empowerment.
It then evaluated those dimensions using 17 relevant metrics, from poverty rate to math test scores to share of lawmakers in the state legislature. For all metrics, WalletHub compared the differences between women and men. In certain states and for certain metrics where women showed an advantage over men, the state is shown as having gender equality.
Overall, Georgia finished No. 45, with a score of 46.93. Among the three dimensions, we ranked:
- Workplace environment: No. 43
- Education and health: No. 38
- Political empowerment: No. 37
Among key metrics within those dimension, Georgia finished:
- Earnings gap: No. 24
- Executive positions gap: No. 44
- Minimum wage workers gap: No. 49
- Unemployment rate gap: No. 44
- Entrepreneurship rate gap: No. 27
- Political representation gap: No. 37
For women who want to close the gap, consider moving to Nevada, which finished No. 3 in workplace environment, No. 9 in education and health, and No. 1 in political empowerment to take the top spot.
Nevada was followed by Hawaii, Vermont, Maine and New York, in that order. Utah came in last place, ranking No. 50 in education and health, and No. 49 in political empowerment.
You can check rankings for all states at wallethub.com.
About the Author
Nancy Clanton is a lead producer for The AJC's platforms team, but also writes stories about health, travel, events and entertainment. A native of Knoxville and graduate of the University of Tennessee, she has worked at the AJC for 24 years.
