Recently a study looked at each state and how welcoming they are to workers and families unfortunately the Hoosier state ranked among the bottom 10.

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The Worst States for Workers and Families Revealed

Every year CNBC does an assessment of the business climates in each state. In this study, they ranked states by how welcoming to not only workers but their families too.   When looking at each state for the study they specifically targeted a few different factors for their rankings.  For this study, they looked at quality of life factors like crime rates, environmental quality, health care, and childcare.

Indiana Ranks Among the Worst Places to Live

According to this study from CNBC Indiana came in as the 8th worst state to call home.  The reason for Indiana's abysmal ranking?  Well, a big part of the low rating has to do with Indiana's lack of access to quality child care.

With fewer than 10 licensed childcare facilities per 100,000 residents, the Hoosier State is making it hard for some families to fully participate in the workforce. It is the second-worst figure in the nation (behind Louisiana), according to the advocacy group Child Care Aware. Protections against discrimination under state law are limited as well.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 113 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: D-)

Strength: Crime Rate

Weaknesses: Childcare, Inclusiveness

As a parent to a toddler, I can definitely attest to the fact that finding quality childcare for my son was ridiculously hard.  I felt like I was running in circles trying to find a quality daycare that had hours that worked with my schedule, had an opening, and wasn't exorbitantly priced.

If you want to check out the full study and see where other states ranked, you can find all of that information through CNBC, here.

Hope for Hoosiers

As someone who was born and raised in Indiana, studies like this always bum me out.  I see a lot of negativity online about living in Indiana, but I love it here.  We get to experience all 4 seasons every year (sometimes all in one day at that), Indiana has some seriously pretty scenery if you stop and look around (have you ever taken a look at a southern Indiana sunflower field or soaked up the view of an Indiana sunset?), and Indiana seems to be growing all the time.

So while I definitely think there is a ton of room for improvement in our state I truly think life is what you make it, and living here isn't so bad. That being said, there are absolutely ways we can advocate as Hoosiers to make life in the Hoosier state better for everyone, and I hope to see Indiana climb up the rankings of this study in the coming years!