Paths still needed up from recession

Everyone who slogged through and survived the Great Recession wants to read a different story these days, one filled with good news about innovation, job growth and prosperity. Alas, a recent study by the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, based on 2012 income data from the U.S. Census, indicates that the slog is still very much with us.

Consider the following:

The median income of Coloradans has not – five years after the recession ended – recovered from the heart-stopping declines of 2007-2009. Real median income, in fact, has declined by $4,400, to $56,765, while the costs of education, health care and housing have risen, dramatically.

Income inequality has grown. In fact, Colorado is among the top 20 states nationwide for having the largest gap between the haves and the have nots.

Equally disappointing, the income gap for women continues to remain stubbornly large. In 2012, Colorado women with high school degrees did the best, earning 75 percent of their male colleagues, roughly $23,327 compared with $31,770.

The Colorado study cites recent research by Cornell University economists indicating that roughly 60 percent of the pay gap is attributable to a narrow choice of occupations, interruptions in work years and working fewer hours because of family responsibilities. Worse yet, the study attributed 40 percent of the disparity to plain, old-fashioned discrimination.

What to do?

A recent opinion piece in Forbes magazine suggests that the answer to income inequality lies not with taxing the wealthy more but in turning the “have nots” into “do somethings.” While this is too simplistic – and harsh – there is a lot to be said for putting people back to work. The problem, of course, is that lots of people are working – but they are working for less than they were seven years ago, and often they are working in part-time positions because more lucrative, full-time work still isn’t available.

This may be changing. Last month, we reported that unemployment in Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties continues to drop, going below 4 percent in two of these counties. Historically, a tight labor market has helped boost wages, and we’re hopeful this will occur in a meaningful way soon.

In the interim, we would like to see support for ongoing health-care cost-containment efforts for everyone, not just for those who qualify for federal subsidies; and more state support for college tuition.

Driving health-care costs lower is a powerful tool for putting more money in everyone’s pocket. In addition, more state support for tuition would give all Colorado students a better shot at a college degree and higher-earning jobs, and an end to an economic slog that has gone on much too long.

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