Sunshine State not so great for women

Florida is one of the worst states in the country for women’s equality, according to a recent study which used metrics such as salary, gender representation in the workplace and number of hours worked.

The WalletHub report compared data from all 50 states and ranked Florida at a low 42 overall for “best states for women’s rights.”

Amy Shapiro, program co-director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Alverno College, said one of the causes of the gender gap is the difference in political empowerment between the sexes. Alverno College is a Catholic women’s college in Wisconsin.

Shapiro’s answers were included in the report.

“One of the ways to close the gender pay gap is to elect more women and men whose values involve caring for others and who recognize that when individuals and families thrive, communities do so as well,” Shapiro said.

The report said the U.S. did not place in the top 40 nations worldwide (out of 144) for gender equality. The U.S. ranks 49.

“(Closing the gender pay gap) will require a shift in values to recognize that the role of Congress and the presidency is to govern on behalf of everyone’s welfare rather than play to a ‘base,’” Shapiro said.

“As long as we…view policies that support women’s contributions to the community as add-ons rather than essentials, we cannot expect much change in the gender gaps identified,” she said.