A Miss for Mississippi, Which Ranks as The Worst State in the Nation for Women Per iVillage’s In-depth Study of the “50 Best to Worst States for Women”

NEW YORK, March 23, 2012  /PRNewswire/ -- Mississippi has earned the distinction of being the worst state for women, according to a comprehensive examination of the best and worst states for women by iVillage, the largest content-driven online community for women. The five worst states for women were revealed today on iVillage, rounding out the rankings of all 50 states, which were unveiled over the past 10 days starting with the best.  A complete list of the 50 best to worst states for women can be found at iVillage's iVote, the site's Election 2012 hub.

While a full explanation can be found at iVote, the five worst states for women out of all 50 – along with a sampling of facts that contributed to their place at the bottom – are:

46. Kentucky – Kentucky's female poverty rate is among the country's highest

47. West Virginia – Less than one in five women has a four-year college degree

48. Arkansas – Arkansas has no female representation in Congress

49. Oklahoma – Nearly 25% of women in Oklahoma lack health insurance

50. Mississippi – The lowest-ranked state in the study lays claim to the highest rate of female poverty, the lowest median earnings, and the highest percentage of overweight and obese women.  Mississippi also ranks in the bottom 10 on college graduation rate, health insurance coverage and political representation.

"Healthcare, jobs, childcare — we know from the conversations on our site that these are the things that matter most to women," said Angela Matusik, iVillage Chief Content Executive and Editorial Director of iVote.  "We looked at all the states and found that they are NOT all created equal when it comes to quality of life for women.  In addition to lively debate, we hope that our 50 States list inspires women to get involved, take action and make sure their needs are being represented by elected officials."

iVillage's thorough examination took into account criteria including healthcare and wellness, economic well-being, parenting support, education, female representation in government, and reproductive rights to compile the ranking.

The five best states for women according to iVillage's analysis are Connecticut (#1), Hawaii (#2), Maryland (#3), Massachusetts (#4) and California (#5.)  A full list can be found at iVote.

Methodology:
Rankings were compiled based on criteria including healthcare & wellness, economic well-being, parenting, female representation in government, reproductive rights, and education for women. The following resources were used: National Council of State Legislatures, National Women's Law Center, Center for American Women & Politics at Rutgers, National Partnership for Women & Families, US Census 2010 FactFinder, Guttmacher Institute, NARAL, The Office on Women's Health Quick Health Data Online, National Network to End Domestic Violence, National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, Institute for Women's Policy Research State-by-State Rankings and Data on Indicators of Women's Social and Economic Status, 2010, American Association of University Women. For more information, see: http://www.ivillage.com/best-and-worst-states-women-methodology-and-sources/8-a-435277.

About iVillage:
iVillage is the largest content-driven community for women online. Every day, women come to iVillage to connect, share advice, find life tools and engage in conversations that matter most to them in the areas of Pregnancy & Parenting, Health, Food, Entertainment and Beauty & Style. Additional businesses and brand extensions within iVillage include iVillage UK, Petside.com, Dinnertool.com, LifeGoesStrong.com, Astrology.com and GardenWeb.com.  Based in New York City, iVillage Inc. is part of the NBCUniversal Entertainment & Digital Networks and Integrated Media Group, which has a digital portfolio of brands that reaches 60 million plus monthly uniques. Join iVillage's Facebook group at www.facebook.com/ivillage and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ivillage.

Contact: Maryellen Mooney, iVillage, 212-651-5198, [email protected]

SOURCE iVillage