Employment is Rising, But Not Prosperity For All
By Marlana Wallace
While Colorado has almost recovered all of the jobs it lost during the recession, job growth has not kept up with population growth, and wage gains have mostly benefited those at the top. These troubling trends show the critical need for education policies that help all Coloradans prosper.
At first glance, the news seems good: Colorado’s economic recovery is among the strongest in the nation. This past year, employment rose faster in Colorado than in 46 other states. And overall, wages are up, increasing faster than in 43 other states. But digging deeper into these seemingly optimistic numbers reveals the disturbing reality that not all Coloradans are benefiting from the recovery.
Yes, employment is growing in Colorado, but so has the population. The number of jobs created in the past six years lags behind the number of jobs necessary to keep pace with population growth.
Yes, wages are up, but these recent gains are not widespread, according to the latest State of Working Colorado Report. For the bottom 20% of wage earners (those making under $20,262 a year) wages adjusted for inflation grew by only 1% since 1980, while for the top 20% (those earning over $101,582) they grew by 19%. The bottom line is that middle-class and low-income Coloradans are not experiencing the wage growth benefiting those at the top.
In fact, even as companies’ profits are rising, many workers’ real wages are falling. This disconnect between rising productivity and falling wages is a threat to Colorado’s middle class.
Lots of Colorado families bring home low wages in part because they are still not able to find the full-time jobs they need to make ends meet. The recession and subsequent weak job market forced many to settle for part-time work. Although the number of involuntary part-time workers has started to decline, it is still larger than prior to the recession.
Some Coloradans face bleaker job prospects than others. More Latinos are working part-time than want to be. Those with the least education are more likely to be unemployed or working fewer hours than they would like.
Fortunately, there are some things we can do to begin turning the situation around and putting more people on the pathway to prosperity.
One of the most important is investing in education, from pre-school to college. Better educated Americans fared much better during and after the recession than others, and we need to do more to ensure that all Coloradans have access to affordable, high-quality education. Currently, low-income and minority students are less likely to graduate than white students and those from wealthier households. These disparities start early in life and carry through to adulthood. For instance, Coloradans with a Bachelor’s degree make 60 percent more on average than those who didn’t finish college.
Coloradans have an important opportunity to address some of these problems by supporting the upcoming ballot measure, Colorado Commits to Kids. It would improve education by generating essential funds for full-day kindergarten, half-day pre-school, smaller class sizes, school districts struggling to generate enough local funding, and English language learners.
An economy that is recovering for some and dismal for others is not the recipe for a strong Colorado. Promoting prosperity for everyone should be our goal.
