Oregon Ranked Among Best States in U.S. for Women’s Equality

Wednesday, August 23, 2017
GoLocalPDX News Team

Oregon is ranked as one of the best states in the U.S. for women's equality. 

According to a recent study completed by WalletHub, Oregon is the 8th best state for women's equality in the country. 

“Women’s rights in the U.S. have made leaps and bounds since the passage of the 19th Amendment. Yet many women still struggle to crack the proverbial glass ceiling because of their unequal treatment in society. Unfortunately, the gender gap in 21st century America has only expanded. In 2016, the U.S. failed to place in the top 10 — or even the top 40 — of the World Economic Forum’s ranking of 144 countries based on gender equality. In fact, the U.S. plummeted to 45th position from its previous rank of No. 28,” said WalletHub.

Oregon's Rankings:

• 10th Best - Workplace Environment
• 16th Best - Education & Health
• 16th Best - Political Empowerment

The Rankings

Overall, Oregon ranks behind Maine and North Dakota, who rank 6th and 7th respectively. 

Oregon ranks ahead of Wisconsin and Vermont, who rank 9th and 10th respectively 

Hawaii is ranked as the best state for women’s equality, while Utah is ranked as the worst.

See the Top 10 and Bottom 10 States Below: 

The Method 

To determine where women receive equal treatment in the U.S., WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Workplace Environment, 2) Education & Health and 3) Political Empowerment.

WalletHub evaluated those dimensions using 15 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for women’s equality. For all metrics, they compared the differences between women and men.

Lastly, they determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its total score and used the resulting scores to rank the states.

Workplace Environment – Total Points: 33.33

• Income Disparity: Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Higher-Income Disparity: Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Disparity in Share of Executive Positions: Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Disparity in Number of Minimum-Wage Workers: Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Unemployment-Rate Disparity: Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Entrepreneurship-Rate Disparity: Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Disparity in Average Number of Work Hours: Full Weight (~4.76 Points)

Education & Health – Total Points: 33.33

• Educational-Attainment Disparity: Full Weight (~8.33 Points)
• Disparity in Advanced Educational Attainment: Full Weight (~8.33 Points)
• Disparity in Math Test Scores: Full Weight (~8.33 Points)
• Disparity in Doctor-Visit Affordability: Full Weight (~8.33 Points)

Political Empowerment – Total Points: 33.33

• Disparity in Share of Lawmakers in U.S. Senate: Full Weight (~8.33 Points)
• Disparity in Share of Lawmakers in U.S. House of Representatives: Full Weight (~8.33 Points)
• Disparity in Share of Lawmakers in State Legislature: Full Weight (~8.33 Points)
• Disparity in Share of State-Elected Executives: Full Weight (~8.33 Points)