Every year, Working Mother sifts through a mountain’s worth of applications, poring over 650-plus data points and perusing essays to find the nation’s most progressive and family-friendly workplaces.

This year’s Best Companies employ more than 1.2 million women across 18 industries. Twelve percent have women CEOs, compared with three percent of Fortune 500 companies. Even more importantly, a tough economy hasn’t eroded these companies’ support of services that help working moms find work life satisfaction: All offer flextime and paid maternity leave, while 99 percent report that spending on work life benefits increased last year.

Also noteworthy, more than two-thirds of the Working Mother 100 Best Companies also offer massage therapy at work, 97 percent have wellness programs and 43 percent have programs that allow workers to take home prepared meals, just to name a few of the family- and mom-friendly benefits offered. The October issue of Working Mother reveals the full list of the 2011 Working Mother Best Companies. Click here to see who made the list and why. Read the full Working Mother 100 Best Companies issue here.

This article was featured in the October 2011 issue of Working Mother Research Institute’s email newsletter, Working Mother Research Institute Essentials. To read additional stories from that issue, see the related content section above. To subscribe to Working Mother Research Institute Essentials, register on the newsletter page of this website.