New study finds Oklahoma is one of the worst states for working moms. See why

Yahoo

10-05-2025

It's almost Mother's Day, a day many American moms look forward to as the day they receive gifts, thanks for all they do and hopefully some rest.
Motherhood is a difficult job, no matter which way you slice it. While some families choose to live on a single income so the mom, or in some cases, the father, can be home with the kids. But in many others both the father and mother are earning money either part-time or full-time. Some even work two jobs.
This doesn't eliminate the pressures of motherhood, however. Women are often still expected to carry the "mental load" of their families, and many of the household duties, despite working a full-time job. And don't forget about the constantly rising cost of child care.
A 2023 report from the Pew Research Center found in marriages where the husband and wife earn roughly the same amount of money, the wife still spends an average of 4.5 hours more on caregiving and housework than the husband. In those marriages, the husband spends an average of 3.5 more hours on leisure than the wife.
In addition, many women get little-to-no paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of their child. In short, there is a heavy burden on American working mothers, and Oklahoma is no exception.
Oklahoma is actually one of the worst states for working moms, according to a study by WalletHub, which ranked states based on 17 metrics corresponding to child care, professional opportunities and work-life balance. Here's what the study found.
Source: WalletHub
Oklahoma ranked poorly in all three categories, and landed at 42 on the list as a whole.
The state ranked 39th for child care, a category which looked at daycare quality, child-care costs, pediatricians per capita, school-system quality, share of nationally accredited child care centers and number of childcare workers per total number of children.
In professional opportunities for women, Oklahoma ranked 42nd. The category included metrics like the gender pay gap, ratio of female executives to male executives median women's salary.
Lastly, in work-life balance, the state ranked 39th, including metrics like parental leave, average length of a woman's work week and women's average commute time.
Overall Rank
State
Total Score
Child Care Rank
Professional Opportunities Rank
Work-Life Balance Rank
1
Massachusetts
72.37
1
6
1
2
Connecticut
66.29
3
4
6
3
Rhode Island
63.82
7
19
2
4
District of Columbia
63.58
4
2
7
5
Maine
62.31
2
9
13
6
Minnesota
58.03
6
7
16
7
Vermont
57.86
18
5
9
8
Wisconsin
56.38
14
16
10
9
New Jersey
56.26
13
34
8
10
New York
54.41
10
37
11
11
Maryland
53.24
12
1
44
12
Delaware
52.93
15
3
41
13
Illinois
52.86
5
24
25
14
North Dakota
52.08
11
30
19
15
New Hampshire
51.48
9
21
34
16
Washington
51.38
32
39
3
17
Oregon
51.34
40
10
4
18
Nebraska
51.27
16
17
26
19
Indiana
50.69
8
35
29
20
Kentucky
48.53
20
11
36
21
South Dakota
48.11
17
36
24
22
Pennsylvania
47.93
22
12
33
23
Colorado
47.41
24
14
27
24
Tennessee
45.69
19
26
49
25
California
45.64
45
25
5
26
Kansas
45.45
30
23
20
27
Utah
45.39
27
48
12
28
Hawaii
45.07
25
44
15
29
Montana
44.95
35
32
14
30
Ohio
44.75
28
22
22
31
Virginia
44.47
21
28
42
32
Iowa
44.39
29
31
21
33
Wyoming
44.18
23
50
18
34
Florida
43.29
26
15
46
35
Michigan
42.61
33
20
30
36
Missouri
40.90
37
18
40
37
Georgia
40.77
34
8
51
38
Alaska
40.71
38
40
23
39
North Carolina
39.66
42
13
38
40
Arkansas
39.38
36
41
28
41
Texas
38.98
31
33
48
42
Oklahoma
37.62
39
42
39
43
Idaho
37.28
46
45
17
44
West Virginia
35.92
41
46
35
45
Arizona
35.64
47
27
32
46
South Carolina
34.48
44
38
43
47
New Mexico
32.70
48
43
31
48
Mississippi
32.00
43
47
50
49
Nevada
31.70
50
29
47
50
Alabama
28.80
49
49
45
51
Louisiana
25.35
51
51
37
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma is one of the worst states for working moms, new study finds