Monday, April 2, 2018
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| Graphic via Institute for Women's Policy Research |
Indiana has
once again received a “D” for the economic status of women in the state, and still ranks dead last
among all states for work & family policies. The Institute for Women’s
Policy Research recently updated state grades and data from its Employment
& Earnings Index and Poverty & Opportunity Index, part of its Status of Women in the States series. States are currently
graded on six areas: Employment & Earnings; Political Participation;
Poverty & Opportunity; Reproductive Rights; Health & Well-Being; and
Work & Family. The data can be found on IWPR’s interactive website.
Indiana is once again in the
bottom third of states, earning a “D” overall. Its rankings on the two updated
grades - Employment & Earnings and Poverty & Opportunity – remained
unchanged: both D’s. Currently, Indiana’s highest grade is a C- in political
participation and its lowest is an “F” in work & family, where the state
ranks 51st overall. Indiana’s grade in this area is due in part to lack of
legislative support for policies like paid leave, elder and dependent care,
child care, and prekindergarten.
"The Indiana legislature has
yet to make improving women’s economic status a priority,” said policy analyst
Erin Macey. “It’s not surprising that we have seen no progress on these
measures.”
The report ranks Indiana #48 in
the nation for both Gender Wage Ratio and for Share of All Workers in Managerial
and Professional Jobs. In 2016, Indiana’s gender wage gap grew two percentage
points, as highlighted in the Indiana Institute for Working Families’ report Wages, Wealth, & Poverty: Where Hoosier Women Stand and Ways our
State Can Close the Gaps. The report also showed that women were
more likely to experience poverty than men.
A number of bills were offered
this year that might have improved women’s economic outcomes in the state.
These included improvements to Indiana’s equal pay law, workplace
accommodations for pregnant women, increases to the minimum wage, and a paid
family leave program. None received hearings.
