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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Minnesota Treating Working Moms Right

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Thursday, May 5, 2016   

ST. PAUL, Minn. – With Mother's Day approaching, new research shows Minnesota is doing better by working moms than almost every other state in the country.

Out of all 50 states and Washington, D.C., Minnesota ranked second best in the nation on Wallethub's "Best and Worst States for Working Moms" report. Analyst Jill Gonzalez says Wallethub looked at a variety of state policies and found that Minnesota excels in several areas, including the number of job opportunities for women.

"Women are pretty well represented across all industries there,” she stresses. “The female unemployment rate was one of the best in the country at just 3.6 percent, and the median women's salary there was the third highest that we saw, almost $45,000."

Gonzalez, however, says Minnesota has some of the highest child care costs in the country, which is holding it back from the top spot held by Vermont.

Gonzalez argues those costs are a serious financial roadblock for some women, especially single mothers.

"So, out of a woman's annual salary, 22 percent of that is going straight toward child care costs,” she points out. “Although the quality is very high in Minnesota, so there might be this idea of getting what you pay for."

Other findings in the report show there may be a political component to how working mothers are faring in the states.

Gonzalez says politically left or blue states, including Minnesota, tend to adopt more progressive social policies.

"We also looked at red states versus blue states and found that blue states are more friendly to working moms,” she states. “Their average rank here was 21 out of 51, whereas red states came out as 31, so of course below average here, which was interesting."






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