The Status of Women in the States project ranks and grades Maine across several areas of women’s lives. While Maine performs better in some areas, no matter the rank, there are still barriers and inequities that prevent women from succeeding and thriving. Across all indices, Maine ranks toward the top of states in the country. Maines’s performance is the strongest on the Political Participation and Reproductive Rights indices. Maines’s performance is weakest on the Employment and Earnings and the Health and Well-Being indices.
Explore the Data
As state policies and programs have changed over the years, so has the status of women in Maine. Since 1996, Maine has made progress in some areas, while lagging in others.
Articles and Publications
Gender and Racial Wage Gaps Marginally Improve in 2022 but Pay Equity Still Decades Away
In 2022, women working full-time year-round made 84.0 cents per dollar earned by men (a wage gap of 16.0 percent), a marginal improvement compared to 2021 (83.7 cents per dollar) and significantly higher than in pre-COVID-19 2019 (82.3 cents).1 Based on median annual earnings [...]
Quick Figure: Pay Equity Still Decades Away
If progress continues at the same rate as it has since 1960, it will still take more than three decades, until 2053, for all working women to reach pay equity with men. It will take even longer, until 2058, to reach full pay equity [...]
Policy-at-a-Glance: Securing Student Parent Success
Earning a college degree has long been critical to unlocking many high-paying jobs – and, as a result, to economic mobility and security. Increasingly, however, the traditional “norm” of a college student – one who enrolls straight out of high school, receives some support [...]
