Colorado Women’s Voices 2000 is the most in-depth look at the historical trends and current reality that have created the complex picture of Colorado women’s priorities and values. By listening to women speaking in their language about their lives, Colorado Women’s Agenda has captured the real issues impacting Colorado women and their families in cities and towns across the state.

In 2000, women remain very concerned, not only about their economic futures, but also about the quality of their and their family’s lives and the growing economic divide in the state. Housing and health care costs are straining their personal finances, and half of all women worry about making ends meet while having enough time to do everything they need to do and still spend time with their families. Colorado women and men are finding it harder to juggle family and work over the past four years, in contrast adults nationwide who say it has become easier.

Women’s Voices has been tracking women’s views in every presidential election since 1992 and has found that over the past decade:

• Women have urgently and consistently placed juggling work and family and equal pay and benefits as the most dominant economic concerns in their lives.
• Education consistently ranks as a top issue for women.
• Concern about moral values continues to top the list and women and men continue to believe by large margins that parents having more time with their children is the preferred solution.
• There has been a shift in women’s support for the role government can play in partnering with them to find solutions for their concerns, with nearly 60% of women saying government can and should help.