Happy Father's Day -- Louisiana ranked worst state in America for working dads

Data released this week from WalletHub shows that Louisiana ranks dead last in the nation for working fathers.

(WalletHub) -- Data released this week from WalletHub shows that Louisiana ranks dead last in the nation for working fathers.

The study measured 23 different indicators across four main categories:

• Economic and social well-being (Louisiana ranked 35th)
• Work-life balance (Louisiana ranked 46th)
• Child care (Louisiana ranked 49th)
• Health (Louisiana ranked 48th)

The landscape for working fathers has come along way since 1960, when 75% of American families relied on a single income from dad, according to financial writer Adam McCann. Today, 93.5% of married fathers work, while 69.3% of married mothers do.

"The contemporary dad no longer fits neatly into the standard of the married breadwinner and disciplinarian," said McCann. "That’s been especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, where many fathers have temporarily or permanently switched to working from home and have taken on more childcare duties as a result."

“Many men understand that to maximize their earnings, they will have to put in very long work hours that separate them from their family members and make it very hard to participate equitably in raising a family with their partners," said Jennifer Glass, PhD., Professor & Executive Director, Council on Contemporary Families, University of Texas at Austin. "So, guilt all around, not to mention a potentially unhappy spouse/partner. Mothers have known forever that they would be punished at work for having children they wanted to spend time with, it is nothing particularly new for them; now fathers are being forced to reckon with that as well, and it is quite uncomfortable to face this choice.”

Data used to create WalletHub's ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Council for Community and Economic Research, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Education Statistics, National Partnership for Women & Families, Institute for Women's Policy Research, Child Care Aware of America, United States Mortality Database and WalletHub research.