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Show Total Personal Income per Household Table 8 Source: Utah State Economic Coordinating Committee. (1992). Economic Report to the Governor 1992. Salt Lake City: Author, p. 101. Income per household may be a better comparative measure of income status in Utah than per capita income because of it's larger household size and younger population. Larger household size and a younger population lowers per capita income, because children are included in calculations even though they are not contributing income. Another important reason to use total income per household is that much consumption is organized around households. Utah's total income per household remained below the Intermountain region in 1985 and 1989, but was slightly higher in 1990 (Table 8). Utah was below the U.S. average for all three years reported (Figure 9). Utah, the Intermountain region, and the U.S. increased in total income per household between 1985 and 1990. There is a wider gap between the U.S. and both Utah and the Intermountain region in total income per household in 1989 and 1990 than in 1985 (Figure 9). Figure 9 Total Personal Income per Household $60,000 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 $0 1985 1989 1990 Utah u Mtn ? US Percentage of People Living Below the Poverty Level Table 9 1979 Total Persons Below Poverty Level Percentage Below Poverty Level 1989 Total Persons Below Poverty Level Percentage Below Poverty Level Utah US 148,005 26,100,000 10.3 11.7 192,415 31,500,000 11.4 12.8 Source: Utah: Utah Bureau of Economic and Business Research. (1990). 1990 Statistical Abstract of Utah. Salt Lake City: Author, p. 9. VS.: United States Bureau of the Census. (1992). Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1992 (112th ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, p. 456. Another reason that Utah has a healthy population while having relatively low income could be that Utah has fewer poor persons, even though average income is low. Obtaining valid data on poverty is not easy. Poverty is often masked in survey data because of the inaccessibility of those who are homeless and without telephones. Poverty status is also subject to specific circumstances that people may be in at a given point in time. For example, Provo City has a poverty rate of 53% for those aged 18-24 yet many of those included are college students. These students report income below the poverty level, although this is a short-term situation and not likely to impact their health adversely. The statistics misrepresent true poverty if such circumstances are not considered. Statistics indicate that poverty increased from 1979 to 1989 in both Utah and the U.S. (Table 9). Poverty is important to health because those who suffer from the effects of poverty also have higher mortality rates, increased disease conditions, and less access to the health care system. Income is not the only determinant of health, however. Utah's relatively good health also reflects other factors, such as lifestyle, as will be shown in subsequent data. Utah's Health: An Annual Review 1993 11 |
