South Carolina is one of the worst states in the country for working moms, ahead of only Alabama and Nevada, a new WalletHub analysis says. The personal finance site used factors including child care, professional opportunities and work-life balance to calculate where each state landed on the list.
South Carolina, ranked No. 49 overall, got its worst ranking in professional opportunities, where it placed No. 49 out of 51 (Washington, D.C. was included in the study). Poor rural areas in the state without many job opportunities could have contributed to that low ranking, said Drucilla Barker, an anthropology and women's and gender studies professor at the University of South Carolina.
"Considering the fact that we have so many rural areas that are so extremely poor, three aren't many professional opportunities for working moms or anyone," Barker said. "Unless you live in Greenville, Spartanburg, Columbia or Charleston, there's not much opportunity for anything."
Also considered by WalletHub when evaluating states' professional opportunities is the gender wage gap and the proportion of families in poverty. While the wage gap in South Carolina is comparable to the national average, the rate of children in poverty is higher. Twenty-six percent of children live in poverty in South Carolina, compared to 21 percent nationally, data from the National Center for Children in Poverty shows.
The Palmetto State was also ranked No. 43 for child care and No. 39 for work-life balance.