Poverty

The Justice Gap: Addressing the Unmet Legal Needs of Lower-Income Utahns

Written by: Shawn Teigen

The Justice Gap: Addressing the Unmet Legal Needs of Lower-Income Utahns focuses on the legal needs of lower-income Utahns – or the roughly 26% of Utah’s population living at or below 200% of the federal poverty line. The purpose is to inform the public of Utahns’ civil legal needs and provide research to help stakeholders with informed decision-making on the future allocation of legal resources. Read the executive summary of the report here. Among the … Continued

A Level Playing Field? Funding for Utah Students at Risk of Academic Failure

Written by: Shawn Teigen

The Governor’s Education Excellence Commission, led by Governor Herbert, voted to focus its efforts in 2018 on “providing support to students at risk of academic failure.” It suggests a strategy for the Utah Legislature to “consider additional state funding … based on student risk factors.” Demographic and economic factors can affect the cost of promoting academic success. Lower household income, disability status and lower English fluency can all be rough indicators of the need for … Continued

United Way of Treasure Valley 2017 Community Assessment

Written by: Shawn Teigen

In 2016, the United Way of Treasure Valley retained Utah Foundation to perform a Community Assessment of the United Way’s three-county service area. Work was completed in 2017. The Community Assessment is seen as a foundation to achieve community goals. For the assessment, Utah Foundation analyzed community data as indicators of community success, barriers to reveal hindrances to community success, and opportunities as potential solutions to barriers. To inform the assessment, Utah Foundation held focus groups … Continued

Utah Priorities 2016, Issue #5: Jobs and the Economy

Written by: Christopher Collard

The anemic economic recovery from the 2008 recession had kept jobs and the economy as Utah voters’ highest priority through 2012. Utah’s economy has since emerged as one of the best in the nation, with a low unemployment rate and many companies reporting employee shortages. Voters with lower levels of education had a higher level of concern than those with more education. Full-time workers were more concerned than retirees and stay-at-home parents.1 While jobs and … Continued

Millennials and Boomers: How Utah’s Generations Compare to Each Other and the Nation (Part I)

Written by: Mallory Bateman

PART I: DEMOGRAPHICS (See Part II: Finances and Workplace Preferences, Part III: Housing, and Part IV: Politics and Society) In 2015, Millennials will overtake Baby Boomers in the U.S. as the largest generation. This is in contrast to Utah Millennials, who have been the largest proportion of the population since before the youngest members were even born. While nationally Gen Xers have held a smaller proportion of the population than either group, Utah Baby Boomers … Continued

United Way of Treasure Valley Community Assessment 2014

Written by: Shawn Teigen

In 2013 the United Way of Treasure Valley retained Utah Foundation to perform a Community Assessment of the United Way’s three-county service area. Work was completed in 2014. The Community Assessment is seen as a foundation to achieve community goals. For the assessment, Utah Foundation analyzed community data as indicators of community success, barriers to reveal hindrances to community success, and opportunities as potential solutions to barriers. To inform the assessment, Utah Foundation held focus … Continued

Climbing Toward the American Dream: A Second Analysis of Economic Mobility in Utah

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

Financial inequality between the rich and the poor has been rising in the United States and in Utah over the past few decades. While such inequality has been connected to societal challenges, these challenges may be mitigated by economic mobility, or the ability of people to move up and down the economic ladder. Following an earlier analysis in 2010, this report examines the American Dream, with a focus on economic mobility in Utah by looking … Continued

Utah Priorities 2012, Issue #9: Poverty

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

In 2012, voters listed poverty as the 9th most important priority in the election year. This policy brief examines poverty rates over time, recessionary effects on poverty, and the poverty rates of subgroups in Utah. It also shows the impact that certain governmental measures have on mitigating poverty. Lastly, it examines how poverty is measured and alternative measures.

Utah Priorities 2012, Issue #10: Immigration

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

In 2012, voters listed immigration as the 10th most important priority in the election year. This policy brief dealing with this issue explains why immigration grew at a rapid pace at the national and state levels in the 1990s, why it has decreased in recent years and what legal actions the state has taken to deal with this.  It also discusses how immigration has changed Utah throughout the past two decades, and how it ill … Continued

The 2012 Utah Priorities Survey of Party Delegates and Voters

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

As part of the 2012 Utah Priorities Project, Utah Foundation and the Hinckley Institute of Politics have surveyed Utah voters and delegates to the major parties’ state conventions.  This survey was conducted for the first time in 2010, showing distinct differences between party delegates and voters, with delegates usually taking more zealous positions than their parties’ voters.  The 2012 survey also shows differences between voters and delegates, but those differences are not as pronounced as … Continued