Trump’s inauguration saw millions of women, clad in pink hats, protesting a whole range of progressive issues surrounding the new Presidency. Despite a clear national disillusion with the state of gender equality, MoveHub set out to see which state offers the best quality of life for US women.

The study investigated the status of women in all 50 states by cross-referencing data for the gender pay gap, political representation in the state legislature, equality in education, accessibility to health insurance, reproductive rights and the number of incidents of violence against women at the hands of men. Individual rankings from each factor were combined to give an overall score of which states performed best when it comes to protecting and promoting the welfare of their female citizens..

Overall, the study found that states that scored poorly in terms of political representation also did badly on factors such as equal pay and women’s reproductive rights, suggesting that the quality of women’s lives is somewhat determined by inequality in government.

Hawaii the best state for women

The Aloha state was the top performer when it came to women’s health and well being; only 6% of the female population do not have health insurance – one of the lowest figures across all 50 states. When it comes to safety, Hawaii produced the lowest number of incidents of women being murdered by men – 0.14 per 100,000 females.

Oklahoma the worst state for women

The southern state of Oklahoma turned out to be the worst state for women in 2017. Following recent laws to strengthen the state’s hand in preventing women from accessing public abortion funds, Oklahoma ranked particularly poorly on women’s reproductive rights. The state has a particularly conservative approach to female abortion rights. For instance, recent legislation introduced in Oklahoma requires women seeking abortions to get the written permission of the foetus’ father.

The best five states for women in 2017

  1. Hawaii
  2. Vermont
  3. Minnesota
  4. Illinois
  5. Maryland

The worst five states for women in 2017

  1. Oklahoma
  2. Louisiana
  3. Utah
  4. Mississippi
  5. South Carolina