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
Women Earn Less than Men Whether They Work in the Same or Different Occupations
Whether women work full-time year-round, full-time per week, or whether all women with earnings are included, they face a substantial wage gap. Women who worked full-time year- round in 2022 made just 84.0 cents on the dollar paid to men. In 2023, the weekly [...]
“No Rights to Speak of: The Economic Harms of Restricting Reproductive Freedom”; IWPR Submission for the Record
Submission for the Record, Institute for Women’s Policy Research Senate Committee on the Budget; 2/28/2024 Hearing: “No Rights to Speak of: The Economic Harms of Restricting Reproductive Freedom” February 28, 2024 Reproductive health restrictions, abortion bans, and similar policies hurt women and families, hurt [...]
Updated Analysis of the Cost of Abortion Restrictions to States
Each year, the number of state-level restrictions on abortion access increases, and in some states, they get more and more extreme. To capture the ongoing harm of these restrictions—not only to women’s health but also to the economy—the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) [...]
