A new report on Texas women\u2019s economic well-being finds little progress in being made and access to affordable childcare is one of the biggest obstacles. <\/p>\n
The Texas Women\u2019s Foundation<\/a> has been tracking women\u2019s economic indicators for more than a decade. Its latest report<\/a> finds that women working full-time now earn, on average, 81 cents for every dollar earned by men, down from 83 cents in the previous report. The gap is wider for Black and Latina women.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \n\u201cI would say there\u2019s not been a lot of forward progress,\u201d said Karen Hughes White, president and CEO of the Texas Women\u2019s Foundation. <\/p>\n The new research<\/a>, conducted in partnership with the policy group Every Texan<\/a>, examines 12 indicators of women\u2019s economic opportunity across 252 of the state\u2019s 254 counties, including employment, education, health care and childcare. (Loving and Kennedy Counties were excluded because of insufficient data.) <\/p>\n \nThe stakes are growing: According to the report, women currently make up 46% of the Texas workforce, but White said they could become the majority by 2040. <\/p>\n \nAnd, the research shows childcare stands out as the biggest challenge. <\/p>\n \nHalf of Texans live in what\u2019s considered a childcare desert. That\u2019s an area with at least three children for every available licensed childcare spot. For families who can find care, affordability is another hurdle. <\/p>\n \nThe average cost of center-based infant care in Texas is nearly $12,000 a year. White said that\u2019s roughly the cost of a year of tuition at a public university. <\/p>\n \n\u201cIt forces, especially women, to make these untenable decisions about going to work to support their family or being able to afford childcare,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \nShe said women often end up reducing their hours or leaving the workforce altogether<\/a>. <\/p>\n \nThe report comes as Texas lawmakers and state leaders consider ways to address the childcare crisis ahead of the legislative session in January. <\/p>\n \nWhite said expanding paid parental leave and increasing enrollment in public pre-K could help. But she cautioned that expanding public pre-K can also put financial pressure on private childcare centers<\/a>, which depend on revenue from older children to help offset the higher cost of infant care. <\/p>\n \nShe said policymakers also need to look at what they\u2019ve already tried to see what\u2019s working and what isn\u2019t. <\/p>\n \n\u201cOftentimes, we\u2019ll have policy changes. We\u2019ll have funding increases. We\u2019ll have stronger participation by philanthropy,\u201d White said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t do a good job, in my opinion, of coming back around the table together \u2026 to assess what we solved for and where we may have created some unintended consequences.\u201d <\/p>\n Sujata Dand is KERA\u2019s early childhood reporter. Got a tip? Email Sujata at sdand@kera.org<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n