The gender pay gap is a worldwide problem, but women in some places have it worse than others. A new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) reveals that working women in the South suffer some of the harshest inequalities in the U.S., not only in terms of how much they are paid, but how they are treated in the workforce.
To compare the status of women across the nation, the report grades each state based on six categories: political participation, employment and earnings, work and family, poverty and opportunity, reproductive rights, and health and well-being. Not a single Southern state was given an overall grade higher than a C-. In fact, 10 out of the 14 Southern states received some form of a D grade, as shown in the chart below.
When it comes to the overall status of women in the South, the results are discouraging. “For every promising sign for women in the South, there are far too many concerning ones,” IWPR President Heidi Hartmann said in a press release. The future is not hopeless, however. “Making sure women’s voices are heard at the ballot box and in the state house is central to improving women’s status in the South and beyond,” Hartmann added.