Is WA a good state for balancing life and work? This report says it’s one of the best
Anyone who has paid attention to the media in the past few years has noticed something of a reckoning in the American workforce. When the COVID-19 health crisis unfolded in 2020, many workers in the U.S. lost their jobs, especially those in service and hospitality industries. And many decided not to go back.
In 2021, millions of Americans quit or switched jobs because they were working too many or too few hours, there was no opportunity for advancement and pay was too low, according to Pew Research Center. Workers also resigned because they demanded better flexibility between life and their jobs. In 2023, Washington employers are helping enable workers to balance the two.
Global business website Remote released a study that finds Washington is the second best state in the nation for achieving a healthy life-work balance while also having flourishing careers. In the report, Remote defines the term “life-work balance” as the trend of modern professionals prioritizing balanced lifestyles ahead of career demands.
“You’ll most often hear it called work-life balance, but we very deliberately refer to it the other way around,” Remote states in its report. “Our health (both physical and mental), our family commitments, and our leisure time should all take priority over our careers … . By putting life ahead of work, we hope to reframe worldwide conversations about how we spend our time.”
Remote’s study results are based on numerous indicators about each of the 50 states, such as total days of paid leave, paid maternity leave, minimum wage, health care status, average hours worked per week and LGBTQ+ inclusivity to determine which locations prioritize workers’ lives above work. Each state was ranked with an index score out of 100. Washington received 62.79.
Washington placed only behind Connecticut in life-work balance, but the Evergreen State outranked New York at third and California fourth. Louisiana was deemed the state with the worst balance between life and work.
“Known for its snow-capped mountains and national parks, the state of Washington also boasts the largest concentration of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) talent in the US,” the report says, adding that well-known brands such as Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks are headquartered in the state.
Healthy life-work balance in WA
The study attributes Washington’s impressive ranking to it offering workers the highest minimum wages among any state, at $15.74 as of January. This figure is more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
The Evergreen State has a generous maternity leave standard and payment rate. On average, female Washingtonians can take 12 weeks of paid leave at up to 90% of their average weekly wage. The average time for maternity leave in the U.S. is 10 weeks, according to personal finance website The Balance.
Washington is also a LGBTQ+-friendly state, according to the report. Nonprofit think tank Movement Advancement Project rates Washington highly for its state-level policies that benefit LGBTQ+ individuals, as well as protections aimed at health care, criminal justice and transgender people.
Finally, Remote notes that Washington is one of only a handful of states that don’t levy personal income tax on its employed residents. This form of tax is imposed on wages, salaries and other forms of income an individual earns all year. The other states besides Washington that don’t collect this tax from workers are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.
This story was originally published April 6, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Is WA a good state for balancing life and work? This report says it’s one of the best."
