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
Black Women Earn Less Than White Men in Every State, Won’t Reach Pay Equity Until 2144
The COVID-19 pandemic and related recession both highlighted and exacerbated the persistent racial and gendered economic inequalities that Black women face in the labor market. Whether they worked full-time, part-time, year-round, or part-year, Black women were paid substantially less than White men. This brief [...]
Women and Infrastructure Jobs: Policy Options for Congress
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and CHIPS and Science Act authorized the investment of billions of dollars into strengthening the American economy. In the next decade, these investments are projected to create several million new jobs. Careers in [...]
Numbers Matter: Women Working in Construction
Construction careers are attracting an increasing number of women. Yet, even with this growth, tradeswomen are only 4.2 percent of those who work with the tools in construction. In three of the five largest trades, their share of jobs is even smaller, just 3.5 [...]
