Working moms suffer in RTW states

When Mom has to work, she does not fare well where RTW is the law

THIRD IN A SERIES

By ED FINKELSTEIN
Publisher

In today’s world, especially in families that don’t have the wage and benefit protections of a union contract, it’s often a necessity that mothers take a job in order to make ends meet. When that happens in a so-called “right-to-work (for less)” state, tragically, working moms suffer.

When you realize that today, women make up almost half of the workforce, and 68 percent of them are working mothers with children under 18, having the phony RTW law is a serious detriment to the mothers and their families.

A new 2022 study from Wallet Hub, using 17 different metrics in three key areas – Child Care, Professional Opportunities and Work-Life Balance – based on the top 25 “best” and the bottom 25 “worst” states for working mothers, shows, again, why RTW has nothing good to offer workers, in this case, working moms.

WORST STATES
• WITH RTW: 20 of the “worst” 25 states – 80percent – are RTW states where support for working mothers is the lowest.

• WITHOUT RTW: Only five of the “worst” 25 states – 20 percent – with NO RTW law are in the worst half of all states in support for working mothers.

BEST STATES
• WITHOUT RTW: 18 of the top 25 states – 72 percent – with NO RTW law are considered the “best” states for working mothers.

• WITH RTW: Only 7 of the top 25 states – 28 percent – are RTW states listed in the top 25 “best” states for working mothers.

LOCALLY
Once again, the impact of having a majority Democratic, worker-supportive legislature like that in Illinois vs. the Republican-controlled, business-over-workers legislature in Missouri is stark:

• Missouri ranks 40th worst out of all 50 states for working mothers.
• Illinois ranks 15th best of all 50 states.

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
Given the in-fighting and negative approach in the Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature over doing anything positive for Missourians, don’t expect this terrible position to change.

The rankings also indicate how positively the Democratic administration in Illinois works on behalf of its workers – a thought for us all in the upcoming August primaries and November elections.

“Regardless of your career field, the negative impact of ‘right-to-work (for less)’ is once again obvious,” said Brandon Flinn, business manager of the Kansas-Missouri Laborers District Council, where a growing number of women are coming into construction crafts as laborers and in many other trades.

“When we vote this fall, we need to remember that the people we send to Jefferson City will have a long-term impact on our lives,” added Pat White, president of the St. Louis Labor Council. “Party should make no difference when it comes to supporting your family.”

EXPERT DATA SOURCES
Data used to create this ranking was collected from these sources:

• U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Child Care Aware® of America, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Council for Community and Economic Research, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, National Partnership for Women & Families and WalletHub research.

The study is part of the ongoing research efforts of WalletHub, a financial services site based in Washington D.C. that also offers insights on a diverse variety of  subjects. Its data and charts are frequently referenced in news articles appearing in Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Fox News, USA Today, Forbes, Yahoo and The New York Times.