During the pandemic, around 2 million American women left the workforce. Many of them permanently. Many of them were working moms choosing the dual role of working at home and childcare.

In the scheme of things, our state had a pretty good showing in this latest study from WalletHub. Were we in the Top 10? Nope. But we were 12th!

These are the Top 10 Best States for Working Moms:

• Massachusetts
• Connecticut
• Rhode Island
• Minnesota
• Wisconsin
• District of Columbia
• Vermont
• New Jersey
• New York
• New Hampshire

You might ask, "So what does Minnesota offer working moms, that South Dakota doesn't?

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Well they (the state of Minnesota), did come in number 1 in the Child Care category, which includes statistics on:

• Quality of daycare and school systems
• Childcare costs
• Number of childcare workers per child
• Number of pediatricians per capita

South Dakota came in 20th.

In the Professional Opportunities category, the statistics here are determined by examining:

• The Gender pay gap - Women only make 84% of what men do in the same position
• The ratio of female executives as compared to male executives
• The female unemployment rate
• Number of families living in poverty
• Median women's salaries

South Dakota came in 2nd!

In the last category, Work-Life Balance, there were only three things considered:

• Parental leave policies
• Average length of women's workweeks
• Average commute time for women

South Dakota came in 24th.

I guess the takeaway here is that we're treating South Dakota's working moms better than half of the U.S., but there is always room for improvement.

Source: WalletHub