Transforming Texas For Women and Girls

For 37 years, Texas Women’s Foundation has been the leading community-supported foundation in Texas that invests in the power of women and girls to drive positive change.

Through research, advocacy, programs and grantmaking, we advance economic and leadership opportunities for women, girls and families to build stronger, more equitable communities for all.

59% OF WOMEN IN TEXAS ARE WOMEN OF COLOR

Over the past decade, the population of Texas has grown 19%, and the number of Texas women has mirrored that. This means today over 14 million women and girls call Texas home. Women’s financial security is essential to the continued economic prosperity of Texas. If there is one representative of a typical Texas woman, she is:

  • a Millennial (age 36)

  • a woman of color

  • living in a city

  • earning $35,000/year or less

  • working to support her family

2.3 MILLION WOMEN IN TEXAS EARN LESS THAN THE POVERTY THRESHOLD

Women are the face of poverty in Texas. Nearly one in six Texas women and girls lack financial resources to care for themselves and their families, resulting in over 2.3 million women in Texas earning less than the poverty threshold. Single mother-led households are almost four times more likely to experience poverty than two-parent households, compared to single father-led households which are twice as likely to live in poverty. Even women with college degrees experience poverty at higher rates than men with college degrees.

IN TEXAS, WOMEN EARN $10,136 LESS PER YEAR THAN MEN

In Texas, the gender wage gap has not budged over the past decade—which is particularly alarming when considering that almost 60% of Texas women are breadwinners for their households.

Among full-time workers in Texas, women earn $10,136 less per year than men on average.

For every hour that Texas women work, they earn $2.83 less than their male counterparts, based on median hourly wages.

Texas women on average earn 86 cents for every dollar that men earn—and Black and Hispanic women are paid even less.

A TEXAS WOMAN’S REALITY