Why Financial Education?

• In Harris County, 70,000 more poor women and girls in 2006 compared to 2000, an increase of just over 25%.
• At some point, roughly 90% of American women will have sole responsibility for their finances because they are unmarried, divorced, or widowed.
  
• 5 out of 7 women will live alone after the age of 65. They will live until an average of 80 and are typically unprepared for the financial responsibilities that accompany this independence.
  
• Women represent half the workforce in America, but they lag far behind men in pension and Social Security benefits.
  
• Only 9% of American women over the age of 40 will receive retirement benefits from their employer.
• 3 out of every 5 part-time workers in Harris County are women who are unlikely to meet their current or future financial needs.
  
• 9 out of 10 single-parent households are headed by women. The economic condition of these families almost always deteriorates following divorce—and is never restored.
• Women are disproportionately poor in Harris County- women are almost 55% of the people in poverty.
• Women continue to lag men in median salary and in high paying occupations.

“I came out with much more knowledge than I imagined I would get. I left the classes feeling empowered, equipped, and with goals to begin changing my financial situation…I am now empowered with the knowledge and tools to be self sufficient.”  -BC, Class Participant, Fort Bend Women’s Center

Financial education and Project LEAD participants, submit your essays online to compete for the annual Money Makes a Difference Award.

See Us in Action

Project LEAD at Lee High School