Pioneering pathways to health and economic security
This is a preview of our Texas 2036 newsletter that takes a look at the root causes of the soaring costs of health care and housing. To receive this weekly look at our work, sign up here.
Pioneering Pathways to Health and Economic Security 🧭
The bottom line: Texas has historically offered opportunities for millions of Texans to earn a family-sustaining wage and benefit from a low cost of living.
The soaring costs of health care and housing have created strong headwinds for Texans seeking to realize their aspirations of owning a home and accessing the care that keeps their families healthy.
By the numbers:
- 61% — the share of Texas’ population that lives in “highly” or “very highly” concentrated hospital markets, a trend contributing to ever-increasing health care costs throughout the state.
- 59% — the percentage of Texans who said they or another family member living in their household skipped or postponed care due to costs in the previous 12 months, including more than half of Texans with health insurance.
- $350,000 — the June median price of a home in Texas, a figure that has risen by 43% since February 2020.
- $8,718 — average annual cost for center-based toddler care in Texas, according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau figures. That’s equivalent to 28% of the median income for single mothers.
👇Keep reading: Our areas of focus for 2024-2025 tackle root causes of affordability issues in Texas and work to reform systemic flaws that drive up costs, as well as better protect our most vulnerable children.
🩺 Revitalizing Health Care Markets for Healthy Families
Texas 2036 is dedicated to addressing the root causes of skyrocketing health care prices that make health care out of reach for Texas families and an increasing burden on employers.
What are we doing to help?
- Identify and develop innovative policy solutions that enhance access to affordable, top-tier health care.
- Advocate for competitive, informed, and engaged health care markets.
- Cultivate a healthy Texas where quality care is a reality for every resident.
Want to learn more? Read our treatment plan for addressing health care markets because Texas cannot subsidize its way out of skyrocketing health care costs.
🏘️ Accelerating the American Dream
Texas 2036 is pioneering efforts to expand homeownership opportunities, seeking to leverage innovative state policy transformations to do so.
What are we doing to help?
- Undertake an in-depth landscape analysis of housing, dissecting the intricacies of the market and their effects across policy areas.
- Propel the growth of homeownership, which contributes to prosperity throughout our beloved state.
- Advocate for smart growth that promotes a range of multi-unit housing types and allows for better planning by cities to potentially increase density.
Want to learn more? Read our roadmap for future Texans to achieve the American dream of home ownership.
👩🏽💻 Protecting Our Most Vulnerable
Texas 2036 is committed to improving the lives of every Texan and aims to produce a comprehensive landscape and scoping project on where foster children go after aging out of the child welfare system.
What are we doing to help?
- Collecting and translating data on foster youth in a way that informs clear decision making, highlighting hidden costs and outcomes and proposing policy solutions for Texas to optimize resources and best protect kids in state care.
- Aid the Department of Family and Protective Services on a path to technology modernization, better allowing caseworkers to support children in their care.
Want to learn more? Read our plan for modernizing Texas’ child welfare IT system.
🤠 It’s your turn, Texas:
Is Texas still an affordable place to live and raise a family?
Let us know in our quick survey!
Bonus Read: Child Care Affordability and Accessibility
From our in-depth study of Texas workforce trends conducted for us by Alexander Research and Consulting:
By the end of 2021, the child care sector in Texas employed 19,000 fewer child care workers, or a 14% decrease in employment in the sector. With a median hourly wage of $10.58, child care workers are one of the lowest-paid occupations in Texas and have one of the highest turnover rates — 68%.
Child care is an essential support for working parents, and staffing stability is critical to a viable child care sector.
📊Did you know? In our February survey of Texas voters, 70% thought most working Texas parents don’t have access to affordable child care options.
Do you share our vision for a future of Texas that prioritizes pathways to success for all Texans by addressing the affordability and accessibility of health care, housing and child care?