The Women's Electronic
Communications and Action Network
Legislative Priorities
Colorado Women's Legislative Scorecard
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Key Findings
Despite a good economy, women’s concerns are largely
rooted in their pocketbooks. Women are asking, "Is this as good as it gets?" and
class distinctions by educational and marital status are more evident. Among college
educated women, 55% say that the current economic boom has reached them and 44% say that
it has not; while among non-college educated women, only 42% of women say that the boom
has reached them, and 56% say that it has not. Only 36% of unmarried women feel that
current economic prosperity has reached their doorstep, compared with 53% of married
women.
- Colorado’s increasingly mobile,
technology-oriented economy is shaping a diffuse policy agenda that focuses on education,
moral decline, economy and jobs, and retirement and Social Security. 79% of women
and 71% of men support investing more public dollars in public schools, including 50% of
women who say this is one of the most important priorities. Women under 30 are even more
likely (85%) to call for increased support for education as a top priority.
- Housing and the costs of health insurance are the
items that place the biggest strain on women’s personal finances, with senior women
also pointing to the cost of prescription drugs. Latinas are slightly more likely
to say the cost of housing poses a strain, while white women are more likely to point to
the cost of health insurance. Women on the Western Slope add transportation and child care
to their list of top expenses.
- Equal pay and benefits and juggling family and work
are critical concerns for all groups of women. 85% of white women, 83% of Latinas
and 74% of all men said that equal pay and benefits for women are a top priority. Both
women and men say that shorter or more flexible hours and a job that pays more would most
help to improve their family lives. Women are more than twice as likely than men to say
they need more help with the housework.
- Health care costs present a big worry for Colorado
women which is being met with a desire for self-management. The preferred
solution is health insurance independent from employment. 77% of women and 70% of men say
that job independent, affordable health care is very important to them personally.
- Retirement is a big worry with the preferred
solution being portable pensions that can be taken from one job to another. Women
rank retirement among their top 3 concerns with education and health care. 80% of
non-college educated women and 74% of college educated women support retirement benefits
that move from job to job.
- In the wake of the Columbine killings, Colorado
women and men are significantly more concerned about keeping their children safe and
declining morality than adults nationally. Colorado women have grown
significantly more concerned about keeping their children safe from gangs and drugs since
1996, with 74% now saying they are worried about this issue, compared with 55% four years
ago. More than half of women (54%) say they worry intensely about their children’s
safety. 53% of women say stronger gun safety laws are personally very important to them,
compared with 43% of men.
- More than half of women (59%) and men (58%) think it
is likely that they will be responsible for caring for an elderly parent or other elderly
person. Younger women are more than twice as likely as their older counterparts
to foresee caregiving roles (80% likely among women under 45, 37% among women over 45).
Colorado adults are more likely to see this in their future than women (48%) and men (45%)
nationwide.
- The time crunch is making it harder for women as
they juggle the demands of family and work and try to spend time with their children to
instill moral values. Half of both Colorado women (52%) and men (49%) say it has
gotten harder to balance the demands of family and work than it was four years ago.
Colorado adults are more pessimistic about the time crunch that women (39%) and men (35%)
nationally.
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