Arkansas Ranks 47th in Womens Economic Status Report
by March 12, 2015 2:42 pm 155 views
Arkansas women make less money and have lower participation in the work force according to a report released Thursday by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
Arkansas ranked 47th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia on the institute’s grading of women’s employment and earnings data.
The report looked at median annual earnings for women who work full-time, year-round; the gender earnings ratio for those who work full-time, year-round; women’s workforce participation; and the percentage of women in managerial or professional positions.
West Virginia, Idaho, Louisiana and Mississippi rounded out the bottom five states on the list.
District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut were ranked as the best states on women’s employment and earnings.
The study is part of the Washington, D.C.-based organization’s “Status of Women in the States: 2015” report series.
Arkansas women had median annual earnings of $30,000, some of the lowest in the country, in 2013, while men’s earnings were $40,000 according to the report.
Workforce participation was at 53.6 percent in 2013, with 37.1 of those women working in professional or managerial occupations. Arkansas ranked 40th in the nation for the percentage of women working in professional or managerial jobs.
The state ranked 44th in closing the gender wage gap, and the study projects the gender wage gap will be closed by 2082 in Arkansas.
The worst states for the gender wage gap are Louisiana, West Virginia, Wyoming, Utah and Nebraska, while the best are New York, Maryland, District of Columbia, Vermont and Florida, according to the report.