The 15 worst states for women

Maternity leave, birth control access, unequal pay and treatment in the workplace, sexual assault, catcalling on the streets, threats of violence for -gasp- talking about feminism in video games online: Women are grappling with a number of headline-grabbing issues these days.

But in Arkansas, where 1 woman in 5 lives below the poverty line, where few women own businesses and where barely half of women vote, the problems are worse than anywhere else in the U.S., according to WalletHub. (Related: Click here to see the 15 best states for women.)

It ranked states based on women's economic and social well-being (taking into account such data as median earnings, unemployment and poverty) as well as on women's health issues (such as life expectancy at birth and the proportion of uninsured women). WalletHub's state rankings for working moms, for having a baby, and for women's equality were also a factor.

Here are the worst 15 states for women in America as ranked by WalletHub (with No. 1 being the worst of all):

15. Montana

Montana falls woefully short in categories such as median annual earnings for women ($31,500) and proportion of women-owned businesses (less than 25 percent), ranking among the bottom-five states for both. Its ratings for women's equality and working moms are middle of the pack. It does rank better on female representation in government: Nearly 1 in 3 of Montana's state legislators is female, when the national average is 1 in 4.

14. Pennsylvania

Full-time working women in Pennsylvania have median earnings that are almost $7,000 higher than their counterparts in Montana. But the Keystone State lands in the bottom 10 states for women's equality, as Pennsylvanian women only earn about 76 percent of what men do. That's about 2 percentage points lower than the national average. It also clocks in as one of the five worst states in the nation for having a baby.

13. Indiana

Indiana makes the lists of the five worst states for women's equality and for lowest number of child care centers, per capita. It's also tied with Montana and Nebraska for the state with the fifth-largest gender pay gap in the U.S. Women in Indiana make, on average, less than 75 percent of what men make in the state.

12. Alabama

Alabama is the worst state for giving birth and has the country's second-highest infant mortality rate, 8.6 deaths for every 1,000 live births. That's nearly 40 percent higher than the national average. Alabama currently has 20 female state legislators out of a possible 140, one of the five lowest percentages in the country.

11. Texas

At 21.2 percent, Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured women of any state in the U.S. On the economic side, Texas has one of the lowest female-to-male executive ratios in the country.

10. Wyoming

Nicknamed the Equality State for its distinction as the first in the U.S. to allow women to vote (in 1869), Wyoming now ranks dead last on WalletHub's rankings for women's equality. With full-time working women earning less than 70 percent of what their male peers do, Wyoming's gender pay gap is larger than any state's except Louisiana's. Wyoming also currently has one of the three lowest percentages of women in any state legislature and has only one female state senator.

9. Idaho

For the most part, Idaho's performance on women's health issues is about average. The bad news for women in the Gem State is that it's the second-worst for women's economic and social well-being, in part because it's second to last in percentage of women-owned businesses, at only 23.6 percent. And women working full-time jobs in Idaho average about $27,000 in earnings annually, 76 percent of what their male peers earn.

8. Nevada

Nevada ranks last in the U.S. for women's health issues and has the second-highest rate of uninsured women in the U.S., with nearly 20 percent lacking health insurance coverage. And, at 9.6 percent, Nevada has the highest unemployment rate for women nationwide.

7. Georgia

Georgia clocks in right after Idaho for the second-highest female unemployment rate in the country at 9.3 percent. It also has one of the worst rates of uninsured women of all the states surveyed—shy of 18 percent of the female population.

6. West Virginia

The country roads of West Virginia apparently don't lead to the polls: Women there voted at the lowest rate of any state in the U.S during the 2012 presidential election. And its gender wage gap is among the three worst in the country, with women in West Virginia earning 60 cents for every dollar men make. Women in the Mountain State also have the second shortest life expectancy at birth out of all the states.

5. South Carolina

South Carolina ranks next to last in female-to-male executive ratio. And as one of the three states with a solitary female member currently serving in its state Senate (alongside West Virginia and Wyoming), South Carolina has a legislature that is less than 14 percent female. South Carolina is also the fourth-worst state in which to have a baby, according to WalletHub.

4. Oklahoma

Oklahoma is where the wind comes sweeping down the plain, which apparently clears out most of the medical professionals concerned with women's health. The state ranks third to last in number of OB-GYNs, midwives and pediatricians per capita, and it places in the worst five states for female life expectancy at birth. Political participation is also lower for women in Oklahoma than in almost any other state, with roughly one female member for every eight state legislators and with less than 55 percent of eligible female voters having cast ballots in the 2012 presidential race.

3. Louisiana

At 23 percent, Louisiana's poverty rate for women is one of the three highest in the nation, so it's no shock that the state ranks second-worst for women's overall economic and social well-being. Another factor contributing to that ranking is its gender pay gap, which is the worst in the country. Women earn slightly less than two-thirds of median wages for men in the state. When it comes to women's health, Louisiana manages, barely, to avoid a bottom-five ranking. But it's still next-to-last for having a baby.

2. Mississippi

Mississippi is tied for the third-highest percentage of unemployed women 8.6 percent (of course, unemployment is high in Mississippi in general). Women in the Magnolia State have the lowest life expectancy at birth of anywhere in the U.S., and Mississippi has the highest overall infant mortality rate in the nation. Back on the economic side, Mississippi is one of the three worst states for working mothers, and it lays claim to the highest percentage of female residents living in poverty at a whopping 24 percent.

1. Arkansas

Earning the unenviable title of "Worst State in the U.S. for Women," Arkansas ranks last for women's economic and social well-being because it's among the five states with the lowest proportion of female-owned businesses (under 25 percent) and highest percentage of women living in poverty (19 percent). It's also the state with the second-lowest percentage of women who voted in the 2012 presidential election at just over 50 percent. Only West Virginia's was lower.

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