Via: Houston Public Media
The Dallas Women’s Foundation releases its 2017 report on economic issues for women.
A new report by the Dallas Women’s Foundation presented Friday at the Texas Woman’s University in Houston presents policy solutions to tackle women’s poverty in Texas.
“Not only are women more likely to live in poverty,” said Frances Deviney, associate director at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which conducted the study. “But even when you actually look at the data on how much women are making if they’re above the poverty level, they’re still paid significantly less than men.”
That’s a problem, Deviney said, because 61 percent of Texas families rely on women’s incomes.
The report identifies four categories – which it calls building blocks for women’s economic security: education, child care, health insurance and housing.
“Within each of those building blocks, we not only examine the data but we also look at recommendations for solutions that communities, the state and business can adopt to help advance women economically and therefore advance Texas economically,” Roslyn Dawson Thompson, president and CEO of the Dallas Women’s Foundation, said.
In child care, for example, one recommendation is for the state to fund fulltime pre-K programs. In higher education, the report calls for subsidizing dual enrollment courses that let students earn college credits while in high school.