A new survey on sexist attitudes across the U.S. analyzes misogyny's economic toll.

Where you grow up matters—especially if you’re a woman. So if you don’t want major aspects of your life to be dictated by chauvinistic attitudes, a new study suggests moving to states like New Hampshire, Alaska, Wyoming, Vermont or Connecticut, where sexist attitudes are the lowest in the country.

Researchers at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and National University Singapore have compiled an index of sexist attitudes in order to see if salaries, work environments and marriage rates of women were impacted by the presence of old-fashioned ideas over what roles women and men play in society. Termed “residential sexism” researchers  used the General Social Survey to measured sexism of different states. Although the data reveals that on the whole sexist attitudes are in decline, it also exposes hotspots of prejudice, where attitudes questioning if women are of equal measure to men continue to prevail.

The survey posed two key questions to participants: “Women should take care of running their home and leave running the country up to men. “It is much better for everyone involved if the man is the achiever outside the home and women takes care of the home and family” were used to gauge general attitudes. The study also found out that sexism is highest in the Southeast, with Arkansas coming in as the most sexist state, and Utah closely behind in second place. According to the study, similar areas dense in chauvinistic values “lower her wages and the likelihood of labor force participation, and lead her to marry and bear her first child sooner.”

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