In the summer of 2017 the financial advice site—wallethub.com—reported on the results of study that looked at the best and worst states to have a baby. A few days later Britain’s Daily Mail picked up the story and issued the following advice to expectant mothers: “Move up north!” Vermont was named the best state in the US to have a baby.
Source: Carly Stern, Dailymail.com, August 16, 2017 and available online at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4796118/The-best-worst-states-baby.html?ITO=applenews
The United States is the most expensive country in the world to have a baby. But, the costs and the quality of health care varies greatly by state.
The wallethub study looked at four factors:
1. Cost—including items such as hospital charges for deliveries and early childhood care.
2. Quality—including issues such as infant mortality, vaccination rates and baby birth weight.
3 and 4. Baby and Family-Friendliness—which factored in parental leave policies, the number of childcare centers and other issues.
The top and bottom 15 states are listed at right. In a nutshell the study found that:
The details of the state-by-state ranking are provided by Richie Bernardo, “2017’s Best & Worst States to Have a Baby,” wallethub.com, Aug 14, 2017 which is available online at: https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-to-have-a-baby/6513/
37. North Carolina
38. Tennessee
39. Alaska
40. Oklahoma
41. Arizona
42. Arkansas
43. New Mexico
44. Georgia
45. Florida
46. South Carolina
47. Alabama
48. West Virginia
49. Nevada
50. Louisiana
51. Mississippi