Texas ranks as the third-worst state for women’s equality, trailing only Oklahoma and Utah, according to a new study by online personal finance blog WalletHub.
WalletHub ranked each state using 17 factors, including workplace environment, education/health and political empowerment. On a scale of 1 to 100, Texas received a total score of 41.89.
Texas’ worst-performing category was education/health, where it ranked 49th, bringing down its overall score substantially. The state maintains one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans and has one of the highest rates of residents lacking health insurance.
Even so, Kristal Gerdes, a professor in the University of Wisconsin-Stout’s Department of Hospitality, said health outcomes examined in the study extend far beyond a woman’s right to choose. Caregiving responsibilities, child care and a lack of workplace flexibility also may cause women to postpone routine healthcare, she added.
“Closing the health gap therefore requires more than improving medical care,” Gerdes said in a statement. “It means expanding access to preventive and maternal healthcare, strengthening paid family and medical leave, supporting affordable childcare, and creating workplaces where employees can attend to their own health and family responsibilities without jeopardizing their careers or financial security.”
Texas’ numbers were also dragged down by a higher-than-average earnings gap between men and women, a larger executive-position gap, a larger work-hours gap and a greater political representation gap.
“Ensuring women’s equality requires more than simply giving men and women the same fundamental rights,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said of the disparities between men and women in the U.S. “States also need to work to make sure that women receive equal treatment to men when it comes to financial opportunities, education and politics.”
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