Dive Brief:
- With Father's Day this Sunday, a new study rates Minnesota as the leading state nationwide for working dads.
- The State of America's Fathers 2016 report has New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey rounding out the top five.
- Minnesota provides up to six weeks of leave for new parents. But report co-author Gary Barker, CEO of Promundo US, said even the best state has room for improvement, citing the paid family leave as a positive move. A different recent survey found 95% of working men believed they should receive paid paternity leave.
Dive Insight:
To identify the best and worst states for working dads for the study, personal finance website WalletHub analyzed the various factors that affect paternal roles in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data points included in the ranking range from the unemployment rate for dads with kids younger than 18, to male life expectancy, to day care quality.
Barker wrote that the U.S. should learn from other countries that have national leave policies.
"Women are happier, men are happier, children benefit," Barker said. "And most studies, particularly in countries that have done leave longer – Scandinavian countries, Canada – find that when workers have it, they're happier and more productive."
So what five states are at the bottom of the pile? In descending order, Louisiana, West Virginia, Arkansas, Nevada and Mississippi, which finished dead last.