On November 10, the Texas Women’s Foundation, in partnership with Dallas-based Texas Capital Bank, presented a forum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas to address the challenges women are facing in the aftermath of the pandemic. The group focused on a recent study published by the foundation, Economic Issues for Women in Texas 2022. According to the study, the pandemic has profoundly and disproportionally impacted Texas women, intensifying difficulties surrounding childcare, education, health insurance, housing and household expenses. In short, the pandemic exacerbated the issues and inequities that Texas women and girls have been grappling with for years. More than 150 attendees participated to learn more about these issues.

The forum set out to clarify and address the challenges during a special review and panel discussion. A solutions panel discussed the report and highlighted some stark realities:

• Texas is home to more than 14.6 million women and girls;
• 60 percent are in households that face difficulty with expenses;
• Three out of five households’ post-secondary education plans changed due to the pandemic;
• More than one in five working-age women lack health insurance;
• 70 percent of working women have children at home under the age of 16; and
• Full-time licensed childcare costs increased by 16 percent from 2018 to 2021.

Established in 1998, Texas Capital Bank has banking offices in Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth.

Pictured at top: Effie Dennison, executive vice president, Texas Capital Bank; Xiaohan Zhang, senior economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Martina McIsaak, executive vice president and chief operating officer, MSC Industrial Supply Co.; Dena Jackson, chief strategy officer, Texas Women’s Foundation: Carol Klocek, CEO, Center for Transforming Lives; Alfreda Norman, senior vice president, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; and Michelynn Woodard, CEO, Texas Women’s Foundation