Working women in Maryland are faring better than their counterparts in other states when it comes to earning power.
The state ranks second in the nation in pay scales for women, with a median wage of $39,300 for full-time, year-round workers. And Maryland women earn 82.2 percent of what men in the state earn, the fifth-best percentage in the nation.
The statistics are from the Institute for Women?s Policy Research, a Washington-based think tank that studied how well state economies treat women based on wages, the gender wage gap, labor-force participation, representation in managerial and professional occupations, business ownership and poverty.
“Women benefit from the strong public sector in [Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.] as well as from strong higher education and health sectors,” said Avis Jones-DeWeever, director of Poverty, Education and Social Justice programs at IWPR.
Not only do Maryland women earn more than most other women in the country ? second only to D.C. ? they make up 43.1 percent of the work force in managerial and professional occupations. Only the District of Columbia paced higher, with women making up 52.5 percent of managers and professionals. Virginia was third, with 40.3 percent.
“This region is something of a mecca for women business owners,” said Heidi Hartmann, IWPR?s president and economist and lead author of the study.
On the downside, Maryland women face higher poverty rates and lack of health insurance, according to the study. More than 10 percent of women in the state live in poverty, ranking 12th in the nation, an increase over the past 10 years, the study showed.
“The report also finds great disparities across the states in women?s health insurance coverage, an indicator that frequently goes hand in hand with poverty,” the report says.
Only 83.5 percent of non-elderly women in Maryland have health insurance coverage, compared with 86.9 percent of non-elderly women in D.C. Maryland?s percentage places it in 25th place when compared with other states.
“We can be proud of the gains women in our region have generally made, but we urge leaders and policy-makers in the region to remain vigilant and to work to improve conditions for low-wage women here,” Hartmann said.
