Bad news for women
Specious study asserts Texas is the 2nd worst state for women's equality
Sure, the U.S. passed the 19th Amendment, but that's certainly not enough to ensure women's equality.
Texas, WalletHub thinks we have a major equality problem. The Lone Star State has ranked at the bottom of the personal finance website's new nationwide analysis of gender equality.
The annual "Best & Worst States for Women's Equality" report, published August 19, ranked Texas No. 49 out of all 50 states where where women receive the most equal treatment in the U.S. Texas is accompanied in the bottom five by Utah (No. 50), Wyoming (No. 48), Idaho (No. 47), and Missouri (No. 46).
At the top of the list of the best states for women's equality is Hawaii (No. 1), followed by California (No. 2), Minnesota (No. 3), Maine (No. 4), and New Mexico (No. 5).
The study ranked each state based on 17 metrics in three key dimensions: Workplace environment, education and health, and political empowerment. Factors that were examined in the study include income disparity, job security disparity, the share of the population aged 25 and older with an advanced degree (higher than a bachelor's degree), and the disparity in the share of Congress members and other elected officials, among others.
Texas earned a miserable score of 39.75 points out of a possible 100. The state performed the best in the "workplace environment" equality rank, earning No. 23, but fell far behind as No. 40 in the "political empowerment" ranking. The state landed at the bottom in the national comparison of "education and health" equality, ranking No. 49.
Texas' ranking may not come as a surprise for women living in Houston, where the city's gender pay gap means men can earn over $4,000 more income than women.
Here's how WalletHub broke down Texas' ranking, where No. 1 is the best and No. 25 is average:
- No. 21 – Earnings Gap
- No. 21 – Entrepreneurship Rate Gap
- No. 22– Work Hours Gap
- No. 32 – Executive Positions Gap
- No. 40 – Unemployment Rate Gap
- No. 40 – Political Representation Gap
The WalletHub study is also doubling down on the unfavorable quality of life in Texas, as the state most recently ranked as the No. 15 worst state to live in the U.S.
Unfortunately, closing these disparity gaps in Texas (and elsewhere) isn't so simple, according to WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe. She said it's going to take much more than "giving men and women the same fundamental rights" to ensure true equality.
"States also need to work to make sure that women receive equal treatment to men when it comes to financial opportunities, education, and politics," Happe says in the report. "The best states for women’s equality have drastically reduced the disparities between men and women on multiple fronts."
According to WalletHub, the best state for women's equality is Hawaii, earning a score of 79.24 points out of 100. Hawaii has the third smallest gap in work hours between men and women, and no gap in the rate of men and women who are minimum-wage workers. Furthermore, the state has an equal share of political representatives that are men and women in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The full report and its methodology can be found on wallethub.com.
