The State of Women's Economic Wellbeing & The Law

Click on a state for a snapshot of data on women’s economic wellbeing alongside corresponding legal protections. States are weighted dark to light based on poverty rates for women.
Download EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

‍EXECUTIVE SUMMARYeeee

Click on the dropdown and select a state for a snapshot of data on women’s economic wellbeing alongside corresponding legal protections. States are weighted dark to light based on the number of legal protections currently available.

SD

Poverty Rates for Women

21%+

16-20%

11-15%

5-10%

Across the country, women’s economic wellbeing is suffering, in large part due to longstanding discrimination, with women of color being left the farthest behind. Legal Momentum’s clickable map, The State of Women’s Economic Wellbeing and the Law, provides a snapshot of gender and racial inequities at the national and state levels alongside legal information on existing state pay protections. The map serves as a tool for individuals, advocates, and lawmakers to assess how well states are addressing women’s economic insecurity, to identify the available pay protections in the state, and to build the case for broader reforms and concrete legislative action. Each state includes an Economic Wellbeing Snapshot tab with core data points on women’s economic wellbeing and a Legal Protections Snapshot tab, which identifies whether or not core pay protections exist within each state.

Economic Wellbeing Snapshot

Today, women continue to face higher rates of poverty, pay discrimination, and segregation into lower-wage industries and jobs, particularly when compared to White men. To better assess these trends, with a focus on the impact on women of color state by state, our Economic Wellbeing Snapshot provides federal and state specific data comparing women with White men with breakdowns based on race on several core indicators: poverty rates, the gender earnings gap, representation in minimum wage and tipped wage workforce, and women as essential earners.

Legal Protections Snapshot

The existence of meaningful pay protections is essential to ensuring that women can address unjust and discriminatory pay practices. To assess state progress in this area, the Legal Protections Snapshot tracks whether states have enacted core pay protections in the following areas: pay equity, pay transparency, minimum wage, tipped wage, overtime, pay frequency and notice requirements, and wage theft.[ Note that while the aim is to expand the conversation beyond standard equal pay laws (laws that typically require equal pay for equal, substantially similar, or comparable work) other relevant protections that do not directly involve pay practices, including paid family leave, sick time, and childcare, are not covered.

This information is not intended to provide legal advice and was last updated in August 2024.