Despite advances in women’s rights, women in the United States must still reckon with unequal treatment on many fronts. In this year’s ranking by the World Economic Forum of countries based on gender equality, the U.S. placed 43rd overall among 146 countries, quite a drop from last year when it ranked 27th. The 10 top-ranked countries this year were Iceland, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, Nicaragua, Namibia, Lithuania and Belgium.
Using 17 indicators of gender equality, WalletHub, the personal finance company, did a deep dive into data on gender equality in U.S. states; the data sets included unemployment rates for men and women, and the gap between female and male executives.
Out of the 50 states, New Jersey ranked 26th. Hawaii ranked first, with Alaska, Maine, Delaware and Vermont rounding out the top five. At the other end of the scale were Utah, Texas, Idaho, Georgia and Missouri.
Nevada was ranked the best state for women’s rights in the workplace, with California and Oregon following. New Jersey ranked 41st in this category. When it comes to education and health, New Jersey ranked in 13th place.