Washington: a top 10 best state for women

Sen. Patty Murray

Sen. Maria Cantwell

Gov. Chris Gregoire

“In Washington,” the iVillage web site says, “the ladies rule – literally.” The governor and both U.S. senators are women, the site notes, as are one-third of the members of the Legislature. Besides that, the state earns points for reproductive choice and access to birth control, as well as for health insurance policies, the fitness practices of its female residents and their income levels. Not so good are the high cost of child care and below-average rates of Pap smears and mammograms.

It all adds up to a No. 9 ranking for Washington on the best-for-women scale of iVillage, a women-centric NBC site that rates all 50 states. No. 1 is Connecticut; No. 50 is Mississippi.
 
What iVillage doesn’t tell you – but we will because, after all, we’re the House Democratic Caucus – is that 19 of the top 20 states are  “blue” states, based on their support for Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. The exception is Alaska, at No. 15.

To read the full report, click here.

To read this post in Spanish, click here.