Latinas in Texas lose an average of $1.7 million in lifetime earnings due to the state's wage gap — among the nation's worst, per the National Women's Law Center (NWLC).

Why it matters: Today's Latina Equal Pay Day underscores the limits on savings, wealth-building and basic financial stability for Latinas — who must work nearly 22 months to match what white, non-Hispanic men earn in one year.

Context: Equal Pay Day, which highlights the general wage gap between men and women, is March 25.

Zoom in: Latinas in Texas experience among the highest in lifetime losses and among the lowest annual pay, according to an analysis based on Census Bureau data.

Reality check: Education doesn't close the gap. Latinas with bachelor's degrees earn $57,000 — less than white men with some college ($60,000).

• Those with professional degrees make just 55 cents per $1 earned by white men with the same education, a $70,000 annual loss, per NWLC.
• And while the Latino GDP is fueling national growth, Latina wages remain stagnant.

Between the lines: All states must follow federal equal pay laws, and Texas also bans pay discrimination through its Human Rights Commission Act. But it lacks the pay transparency laws adopted elsewhere that require employers to disclose salaries or review pay practices.

Zoom out: Nationally, Latinas earn 58 cents for every dollar paid to white men — a figure that's barely moved in recent years, says Jasmine Tucker, vice president for research at NWLC.

What they're saying: Tucker says systemic change — including stronger federal and state policies — is needed, but the problem also starts long before Latinas enter the workforce.

• "Some of this starts at an early age, where women are sort of pushed out of STEM fields and right into more care work," she says.
• "The Latina wage gap speaks to the undervaluing of the work these women bring."

What we're watching: The advocacy group Equal Pay Today is leading a social media campaign today using #LatinaEqualPay and #Trabajadoras.

The whiplash continues for Houston's pro football fans after the United Football League announced yesterday the Bayou City's team would change names and venues for the 2026 season.

Why it matters: The Houston Roughnecks will now be called the Houston Gamblers, harkening back to H-Town's original USFL football team name in the 1980s, and will play at Shell Energy Stadium in East Downtown.

Catch up quick: Houston was one of several cities with two non-NFL professional football teams by the early 2020s after the revival of both the USFL and XFL.

• The XFL, Vince McMahon's brainchild from 2001, was revived in 2020 with the Houston Roughnecks as one of eight teams nationwide.
• Two years later, the USFL also returned with the Houston Gamblers among eight teams in the league.

The USFL and XFL merged in 2023 to form the UFL, with only eight teams of the combined 16 remaining.

• Houston emerged from the merger with a UFL team, which was called the Roughnecks.

Driving the news: The UFL announced the Houston team's new name and venue change along with three expansion teams in Columbus, Ohio; Orlando, Florida; and Louisville, Kentucky.

• Three teams — the Michigan Panthers, San Antonio Brahmas and Memphis Showboats — are not returning for the 2026 season.

What's next: The 2026 UFL schedule and uniforms will be unveiled in the "near future," per the organization.

What they're saying

🍎 Houston ISD's state-appointed board of managers is considering terminating a prominent teacher union leader. (Houston Chronicle)

💥 Homeowners along East Beltway 8 say drivers keep crashing through their fences. (KHOU)

💼 Houston-based Occidental Petroleum is selling its chemical business in a nearly $10 billion deal. (Houston Public Media)

The rate of home births in the country keeps climbing years after the pandemic surge, though Texas remains below the national rate.

Why it matters: The trend reflects waning trust in traditional maternity care, as U.S. maternal deaths remain the highest among high-income nations and Black mothers have more than 3 times the mortality rate of non-Hispanic white women, per 2023 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What they're saying: "In general, patients have distrust of the established medical system — especially Black patients," says Veronica Gillispie-Bell, a Black OB-GYN and representative of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. "In the 17 years I've been in practice, there's definitely been a shift."

• While a patient is the guest during a hospital birth, at a home birth "it's a different power dynamic," says Michelle Palmer, board member and fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. "You're being invited to their home as a provider," and the patient makes the rules about what they can eat, which rooms they can labor in, and who can be around.

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The numbers "6-7" has become a generational litmus test — if it makes you shout back and make a hand gesture, you're likely Gen Alpha. If you think of the old joke that 7 "8" 9, you're probably not.

Catch up quick: "6-7" comes from the rapper Skrilla's song "Doot Doot," in which he repeats "six-seven."

• A popular TikTok video shows a child at a basketball game yelling "6-7" into the camera right before a player makes a basket.
• LaMelo Ball, a point guard for the Charlotte Hornets, has become embedded in the meme's tapestry, largely due to his height — 6 feet, 7 inches.

By the numbers: "6 7" is the top search for "how to use [slang]" and "why do middle schools say" this year, according to Jenny Lee, lead data analyst at Google Trends.

The bottom line: There's no real meaning behind it.

• It's just "fun to say," content creator Philip Lindsay explains on TikTok.