Equal Pay Still Faraway

    Today is National Equal Pay Day, a day to raise awareness about the wage gaps felt by women and minorities. But according to a new study, Colorado’s female college graduates have a long way to go before getting an equal salary to their male counterparts. A report (PDF) by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) shows that the earnings gap between women and male graduates is 71 percent, with medium incomes being $63,888 for men and $45,609 for women.

    Nationally, the United States is projected to have an earnings gap of 74 percent with  an estimated 36 percent of Colorado women with degrees affected. Washington D.C. and Maryland ranked high for wage fairness while Louisiana and South Dakota ranked the lowest. Colorado was 17th.

    An explanation of the data can be found here.

    Today state Democratic lawmakers held a press conference at the capitol to celebrate the day announce the creation of a Pay Equity Commission.

    Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.