The purpose of this assessment is to prioritize the specific needs, objectives, and strategies on which UWSL will focus its community impact work. UWSL contracted with Utah Foundation to conduct this assessment, which is a year-long project involving focus groups, surveys, data collection, research, and analysis.

During the first stage of the assessment, Utah Foundation held focus groups with UWSL’s Change Councils, main funders, and staff to determine and gain consensus about what the vision of change is for each of UWSL’s priority areas … Read more »

Each year, Utah Foundation writes a chapter on regional and national economic comparisons for the Economic Report to the Governor. This chapter compares Utah with other states, highlighting the Mountain states, covering population growth, wages, household income, employment and unemployment, and poverty rates. While Utah has fared somewhat better than its neighboring states, it has not been immune to the economic downturn. Utah had the fastest growing population in the nation in 2008, but like every other mountain state, its total personal income fell in the most recent 12-month reports. … Read more »

Each year, Utah Foundation writes a chapter on regional and national economic comparisons for the Economic Report to the Governor. This chapter compares Utah with other states, highlighting the Mountain states, covering population growth, wages, household income, employment and unemployment, and poverty rates. The data show a slowing economy but one where Utah was faring better than much of the nation. … Read more »

Utah Foundation performed the research for the Community Assessment released in April 2007 by the United Way of Salt Lake. This project involved four research phases: … Read more »

A wave of increasing bankruptcy rates has swept across the nation, causing economic, political, and social hardships. Utah has emerged in recent years as the number one state in terms of the number of bankruptcies compared to the number of households. Why would Utah fare worse in this national trend than other states, and how is this possible in a state that prides itself on responsible social behavior and self-reliance? What is unique about Utah’s economy, culture, demographics, or legal climate that would put Utah atop this national trend? … Read more »

In November of 2000, Utah Foundation released an initial analysis of the Children’s Health Insurance Program or CHIP. That report provided an overview of the program and its purpose as well as discussing first year results and health care reform in Utah. It concluded by detailing the state’s plan for operation as well as the measurement tools used to determine how successful CHIP was in reaching its goals. … Read more »

In 1996, promising to “end welfare as we know it,” President Bill Clinton signed into law The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). By so doing, the landscape of government assistance to the poor was radically altered. Low-income individuals were no longer provided with lifetime monetary subsidies from the federal government. Instead, state governments were given block grant funding to implement programs to assist this population. … Read more »

Unlike most developed countries in the world, the United States does not have nationalized health insurance. Rather, health insurance is largely provided by the private sector in the U.S. with national health insurance for certain segments of the population, namely the elderly (Medicare) and poor (Medicaid). One of the concerns of many Americans with this approach is that there is a segment of the population that remains uninsured. Many of these uninsured earn too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford private insurance. Of particular concern to many is that a large percentage of the uninsured are children. … Read more »

The Utah economy experienced a decade of growth and expansion during the 1990s that is unparalleled in Utah’s peacetime history. The United States economy is also performing extraordinarily well. Unemployment rates reached 30 year lows around 3 percent in Utah and 4.1 percent nationally. In October of 1998, Utah Foundation reported that the growth in the economy was having a positive impact on the lives of low and middle income Americans in general and for Utahns in particular. … Read more »