WASHINGTON — Working parents face a lot of challenges trying to juggle jobs and family responsibilities. But a new ranking puts the District of Columbia near the top of a list of states with policies that are friendly to families.
The availability of paid leave and child care helps D.C. rank third most family friendly on a report card from The Institute for Women’s Policy Research. New York tops the list followed by California.
The Status of Women In The States 2015 report on local rankings of policies friendly to families:
The District – “B” – 3rd.
Maryland – “C” – 22nd.
Virginia – “D” – 45th.
The report also shows women bring home the bacon in half of all American families with children as either the primary breadwinner or working along with a spouse to support the household.
Mothers are the breadwinners in 46 percent of the D.C. married couples with children in D.C. That’s the highest parentage in the nation along with Vermont also at 46 percent.
Another top ranking for D.C. is the cost of infant child care eating up the most of a woman’s median income.
Only D.C. and Connecticut have statewide laws against companies discriminating against workers who are taking care of parents or disabled spouses. Nationwide women are nine times as likely as men to work part-time because they’re taking care of children or elderly parents, the study notes.
WTOP’s Kristi King contributed to this report
