Fifty-six percent of Texas women heading low-income households lack any college education, the third-highest percentage of any state, according to a report released Wednesday by the Working Poor Families Project. 

The Washington, D.C.-based project, a national initiative focused on state workforce development policies, based the report on census data. That data also says that 61 percent of female-headed working families in Texas are low-income, an increase from 59 percent in 2007, according to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank that advocates for low-income Texans.

Don Baylor Jr., a senior policy analyst at the center, said Texas government should be working to help residents earn degrees.  

“Texas only spends a drop in the bucket compared to other states on services that would enable folks to get a high school diploma or a GED,” Baylor said.

The report suggests that subsidizing education, giving tax credits to low-income families, increasing the minimum wage and granting low-income women paid sick and maternity leave could help get female-led households out of poverty.

Kathleen Hunker, a policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, said that though women in low-wage jobs are struggling, the focus should be instead on what they do have: purchasing power.

Texas’ minimum wage gives women working low-income jobs more purchasing power than women in other states because Texas is a more affordable place to live, she said. Texas’ minimum wage of $7.25 buys more than California’s $8 minimum wage, she said.

Hunker also said that achieving an affordable bachelor’s degree is possible through universities that offer degree plans for $10,000. Gov. Rick Perry in 2011 called on Texas universities to develop $10,000 bachelor’s degrees, and more than a dozen have announced they’ve created such options, though most do not account for the cost of textbooks. 

A low-cost degree wasn’t an option when Amarillo librarian Cindi Wynia put herself through West Texas A&M University while raising her young daughter. It took her seven years to graduate.

“I could only afford one class a semester — that was all the money I could scrape up,” said Wynia, who is now studying for a master’s in library science with the help of a grant.

While completing her degree required a significant investment of time and money, she knew it would provide opportunities for her and for her daughter, she said.

“It’s very frustrating going into debt to get a college degree, but it opens so many doors if you can get one,” Wynia said.

Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.

 Learn about The Texas Tribune’s policies, including our partnership with The Trust Project to increase transparency in news.