RIP Viv

Vivian Castleberry, Dallas champion of women and journalism, dies

Vivian Castleberry was a trailblazer as a woman journalist and a peace activist.

Dallas journalist and pioneer Vivian Castleberry died on October 4 after a battle with breast cancer; she was 95.

Castleberry was born in Lindale, Texas on April 8, 1922, and graduated as valedictorian from her high school in Athens in 1940. She was a graduate of Southern Methodist University and a Distinguished Alumnae.

A lifelong journalist, she edited her high school newspaper, the SMU newspaper, and was women's editor of the Dallas Times Herald for 28 years, from 1956-1984.

She was the first woman to serve on the newspaper's editorial board, and helped draw attention to issues such as foster care, adoptions, abortion, domestic violence, and child poverty.

She won numerous awards, including a Legends award from the Dallas Press Club for lifetime excellence in journalism in 2013.

She was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1984 and was honored with the Laurel Award given by the American Association of University Women; a Women Helping Women Award given by the Women's Center of Dallas; a Women Helping Women Award given by the Soroptimist Club, and the Extra Mile Award given by the Business and Professional Women's Club.

She helped found many women-centric nonprofits, including the Women's Center of Dallas, Women's Issues Network (WIN), and the Dallas Women's Foundation.

After her retirement from journalism in 1984, she became a peace activist, making trips to foreign countries as a "grassroots diplomat." The Oak Cliff Lions Club presented her with the Bill Melton Humanitarian Award in 2017 for her dedication to community and mankind.

In 2010, the University of North Texas founded the Castleberry Peace Institute, named after Vivian, to promote peace via research and education.

Vivian married her childhood sweetheart, Curtis W. Castleberry, who became a high school teacher; he died in 2013. She's survived by five daughters and multiple grandchildren.

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income analysis

This is how much a single-income family needs to make in Texas in 2026

Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash

The income needed for a single-income household to raise a child in Texas is lower than it was last year.

With childrearing costs in the Lone Star State adding up to tens of thousands of dollars per year, many Texas families are navigating a difficult decision: should both parents work or should one parent stay home to raise the child?

For Texas families that choose the latter, the working parent needs to make nearly $73,000 per year to support their child and the stay-at-home parent, a new income analysis has revealed.

The newly released SmartAsset report used MIT's Living Wage Calculator to estimate the annual living wages needed across all 50 states for a three-person household with two working adults and one child, and a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. Costs included food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes, and "other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent needs to make $72,925 to support their stay-at-home counterpart and their child, the study found. That's $1,809 less than what was needed in 2025.

Meanwhile, the combined income needed for a household with one child and both parents working full-time is $85,030.

Texas ranked No. 42 in SmartAsset's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working parent, one stay-at-home parent, and one child. That also situates Texas as the 9th most affordable state for single-income families. But there are risks associated with only having one breadwinner in the family.

"A single income family with small children potentially saves in child care costs over a household with two working parents," the report's author wrote. "The main disadvantages are the lost salary and retirement contributions, Social Security earnings history and employer health benefits."

There aren't any specific tax benefits to having a parent stay at home to raise their child full time, but SmartAsset says single-income families can claim a tax credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

"[S]ingle-income families may claim the Child Tax Credit — up to $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026 ($1,700 refundable) — on the same terms as any other family," the report said.

SmartAsset's latest report only looks at costs on a statewide basis, but the cost to raise a child will also vary greatly depending on the city you live in. Raising a child in Dallas-Fort Worth might pose a challenge for some families, where the cost for childcare alone adds up to $10,736 and overall costs can surpass $23,000.

For households with two children, there might be additional strains on what a family might consider a "comfortable living." A March 2026 SmartAsset study determined a Dallas family with two working parents need to make a combined income of $214,490 to have a financially stable life while raising two children.

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income needed for single-income families are:

Arkansas ($68,869)
Mississippi ($70,054)
Kentucky ($70,179)
West Virginia ($70,283)
North Dakota ($71,219)
Oklahoma ($71,365)
Louisiana ($71,406)
Missouri ($72,862)
Texas ($72,925)
Tennessee ($72,946)

smartasset reports texas family income