California has the most women legislators with young kids
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
California's legislature leads the nation in motherhood, according to a new report.
Why it matters: State legislatures shape policies that directly impact families, but moms of young children remain vastly underrepresented in state capitols across the country.
What they're saying: "If you don't have parents with young children helping set the legislative agenda, you're missing a whole segment of the population, and their lived experiences are not being brought to bear on decisions that are being made," Jean Sinzdak, associate director of the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), told Axios.
By the numbers: An estimated 85% of women become mothers by 45. But, as of 2024, just 25% of legislators nationwide were female or nonbinary parents, the analysis from the Vote Mama Foundation found.
- Just 8% of lawmakers are mothers with children under the age of 18.
Zoom in: California has the highest representation of moms with young kids at 17.5% of lawmakers, per the report.
- That's up from nearly 11% in 2022.
- Most of the women representing San Diego County residents are moms, including state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, and Assemblymembers Marie Waldron, Tasha Boerner and Akilah Weber.
Between the lines: Serving in a state legislature can be especially difficult for parents of young children, given the need to travel to a state capital, long nights of lawmaking and low pay in states where the job is considered part time, Sinzdak said.
- It's a full-time job in California, one of only four states that pay legislators a livable salary, per the report.
The intrigue: Increasing pay, allowing virtual participation and providing on-site child care are a few changes Vote Mama Foundation founder Liuba Grechen Shirley says are essential to achieve gender parity and "truly family-friendly legislation."
- She would know: Grechen Shirley made history in 2018 when she successfully lobbied the Federal Election Commission to allow her to use campaign funds to cover the costs of child care associated with running for a New York congressional seat.
The silver lining: The numbers have increased 3 percentage points since the group first collected the data in 2022. At that time, just over 5% of legislators were moms of minor kids.
- And the share of legislators who were pregnant or gave birth while serving has more than doubled, from 12 to 30.
Yes, but: There are more than 7,000 legislators serving nationwide. About 2,400 of those are women, per CAWP.
What we're watching: California is expected to increase its record number of women in the state Senate and Assembly after November's election, Cal Matters reported.
- The state Senate is projected to have a majority of women for the first time.
The fine print: The study's authors collected data for women and nonbinary legislators with biological, foster, step, and formally or informally adopted children under 18.
- Because they based their data on publicly available bios and news reports, the actual number of mothers and caregivers may be higher than reported.
The bottom line: Voters would need to elect more than 700 more moms to hit proportional representation nationwide, and one more in California, per the report.