South Carolina one of the worst states for women’s equality, according to this study
South Carolina has been ranked as the fourth-worst state in the nation for women’s equality, according to a 2021 WalletHub study.
WalletHub, a financial advisory website, ranked the states based on disparities between women and men in terms of workplace environment, political empowerment, health and education.
A state’s overall workplace environment was judged based on factors including income disparity, unemployment rate disparity and disparity in share of executive positions. Education and health were judged using disparities in each state’s population aged 25 and over with advanced degrees, math test scores and the affordability of doctor’s visits. The political empowerment sector was judged based on disparities in a state’s share of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, the state Legislature and disparities in state-elected executives.
Utah, the study found, was the worst state for women, followed by Idaho and Texas. Kansas ranked fifth-worst behind South Carolina. Nevada ranked as the best state overall, according to the study, followed by Hawaii and Vermont.
While the Palmetto State ranked fourth-worst overall, it ranked ninth-worst in health and education. South Carolina was the fifth-worst in workplace environment and the sixth-worst overall in political empowerment. South Carolina was the fifth-worst state in 2020, according to last year’s WalletHub findings.
The state also came in as the fifth-worst state for working moms, according to WalletHub, behind Mississippi, Idaho, Alabama and Louisiana.
Today, women make up more than half of the population nationwide but account for less than 30% of lawmakers and 25% of board seats at Fortune 500 companies, the WalletHub study found.
Early history of women’s rights in South Carolina
The road toward equal rights in America has been a long one spanning back to the 19th century. Historians at the University of South Carolina credit the start of the movement in the state to two groups of sisters.
Sarah and Angelina Grimke were born in South Carolina and grew up to be vocal abolitionists in the state. In 1838, Angelina spoke to the Massachusetts Legislature about abolishing slavery, becoming the first woman to speak at a state legislature meeting. As the sisters worked towards abolishing slavery in America, they received opposition from male counterparts citing their gender as a hindrance to the cause. This led to them advocating for women’s rights.
The suffrage movement in South Carolina, according to the University of South Carolina’s 100 Years of Suffrage series analyzing women’s history in the state, began with the Rollin sisters in the 1800s.
The sisters — Frances, Charlotte, Louise, Florence and Katherine — despite being allowed access to education, were still barred from many of the rights afforded to white citizens.
The sisters had a long history of advocacy and civil rights work in the state. By 1871, Frances Rollin was hosting suffrage meetings at her home in Columbia and had gained prominence as a leader in the movement. After the Civil War, Katherine and Charlotte established a freedman’s school, and in 1869 the two got jobs at the State House as clerks. In 1871, the sisters were granted a charter for the South Carolina Chapter of the American Woman Suffrage Association, the state’s first women’s suffrage organization. In 1872, Charlotte had earned her spot as a mouthpiece for the movement and was chosen to go to the national convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association.
The 19th Amendment, the amendment that gave women the right to vote, was not ratified in South Carolina until 1969. That’s nearly 50 years after the amendment was officially ratified.
The Equal Rights Amendment, which was passed in Congress in 1972, needed approval from 38 states by 1979 to be added to the Constitution. In 1978, the deadline was extended to 1982 and, with approval from only 35 states, the ERA was just three states shy of ratification. In 2017, Nevada became the 36th state to ratify, followed by Illinois and Virginia in 2018 and 2020 respectively.
South Carolina is one of a dozen states that have not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment.
