Social Capital

Op-ed: Why social capital and community life are essential to Utah

Written by: Shawn Teigen

I’m not a fan of affirmations. I don’t have a poster on my wall that inspires me to succeed, nor do I have a calendar on my desk with daily inspirational quotes. In fact, one could argue that my personality is more in line with “Team Building: Sometimes, the most important lesson you can learn is that you’re not a very good team.“ Nonetheless, I’m completely taken in by the idea of social capital — … Continued

Utah Thrives Podcast | Social Capital and Community Life

Written by: Dan Bammes

There’s good news and bad news in the newest report in the Utah Foundation’s social capital series. The good news is that Utah far outdistances every other state in several key metrics of community life. The bad news is that Utah’s community life index score has fallen by over 40% since 2013. In this podcast, Dan Bammes talks with Utah Foundation staff and board members Ben Brown and Mary Catherine Perry.

Utah Thrives Podcast | Family Structure and Family Ties

Written by: Dan Bammes

Listen to our latest episode of Utah Thrives, where we discuss one of our Social Capital Index project reports: Households and Heritages: How Family Health Hooks into Social Capital. In this episode, Dan Bammes guides us through a discussion with Shawn Teigen, the Utah Foundation’s President, and Bill Crim, President and CEO of the United Way of Salt Lake and a Utah Foundation board member. We cover the data and importance of family structure and family ties.

Utah Thrives Podcast | Social Capital and Future Generations

Written by: Dan Bammes

Listen to our latest episode of Utah Thrives, where we discuss one of our Social Capital Index project reports: Tots and Tomorrow: How a Focus on Future Generations Generates Social Capital. In this episode, Dan Bammes guides us through a discussion among Utah Foundation staff and board members. We cover the data and importance of these future-generations metrics. Access the full report here.

Utah Thrives Podcast | Social Capital in Utah

Written by: Dan Bammes

Listen to our latest episode of Utah Thrives, where we set the stage for our upcoming series of reports on social capital. We revisit a clip of our interview with Robert Putnam in 2019 and hear an overview of our social capital project by Research Intern Laura Pacheco. We also interviewed Silvia Castro Bennett of Suazo Business Center and Bill Crim of United Way Salt Lake to understand how their organizations leverage social capital to … Continued

Utah Thrives Podcast | Social Capital in Utah

Written by: Peter Reichard

Social Capital: An Overview of the 2021-22 Series In July, the Utah Foundation released the eighth installment in its Utah Social Capital Series. The series examined roughly 30 metrics in seven topical areas. They included civic engagement, social trust, community life, family life, social cohesion, social mobility and the focus on the next generation. The Network of Relationship: Utah’s Social Capital Index is the final report in the series. It takes together the findings of the previous … Continued

Op-ed: Utahns lead the nation on social capital — but do we spend enough time with our kids?

Written by: Peter Reichard

When it comes to the network of relationships people use to benefit themselves and the larger community, Utah stands apart from the nation at large. In late July, the Utah Foundation released the eighth report in its Social Capital Series, summarizing the findings of the series and tallying the metrics we deployed. Utah emerged with a strikingly high composite score of 94. This contrasts sharply with the national number, 54. Social capital comes in many … Continued

Utah Thrives Podcast | The Middle-Class and Social Cohesion

Written by: Peter Reichard

How does economic stratification look in Utah? Utah is unique among Western States on a key measure of social cohesion   In March, the Utah Foundation put out a new edition in our Utah Social Capital Series called The Soil of Common Ground: Social Cohesion in Utah. On maybe the most important metric, Utah came out on top nationally. On another, Utah stands alone in the Western states. In this edition of Utah Thrives, Utah Foundation Senior … Continued

Op-ed: America’s middle class is in trouble, but not in Utah

Written by: Peter Reichard

The nation’s middle class has gradually been shrinking. Fifty years ago, more than 60% of Americans were in the middle class. Now the percentage is less than 50%. It’s worth noting that the upper class grew during that time. But so did the lower class. In short, our nation is becoming increasingly stratified. This is particularly evident when we look at America’s major cities and the urban-rural divide. A robust middle class provides a pipeline … Continued