"Each career has its own unique challenges for balancing work and family - but blue and pink collar occupations and the service industry work are especially difficult. In many white-collar occupations, work can be done from home (as we are seeing now) and the pay is better - so families can outsource things like childcare, even if they have to pay more to find someone at the last minute. But in the service industries, working from home is not an option. (And, neither is bringing your child to work - yet, I have certainly seen colleagues in a pinch do this on occasion. It's not ideal, but it's also not a huge deal. In service occupations, workers are more likely to lose their jobs if they do this). Similarly, employers in these industries want perpetually available workers, whom they can schedule to come in at the last minute, or stay late if someone doesn't show up. This...can be extremely difficult to manage if you have children, and even more so if you are a single parent, live far away from family, or don't have a lot of expendable income you can use to hire help at the last minute."

Excerpted from 2020's Best & Worst States for Working Moms