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Show POVERTY One reason Utah has a comparatively healthy population despite having relatively low income may be because Utah has a lower proportion of poor persons. Obtaining valid data on poverty is not easy. Poverty is often not fully revealed in survey data because of the inaccessibility of those who are homeless and/or without telephones. Poverty status also may reflect specific circumstances. For example, Provo City has a poverty rate of 53% for those aged 18-24. Many of those included are college students who report incomes below the poverty level although this is a short-term situation and not likely to adversely affect their health. The statistics misrepresent true poverty because they do not adjust for such circumstances. Statistics indicate that poverty increased from 1979 to 1989 in both Utah and the U.S. (Table 15). Poverty has effects on health because those in poverty have higher mortality rates, increased disease incidence, and less access to the health care system. Table 15 People living below the Poverty Level 1979 Total Persons Below Poverty Level Percentage Below Poverty Level 1989 Total Persons Below Poverty Level Percentage Below Poverty Level Utah U.S. 148,005 26,100,000 10.3 11.7 192,415 31,500,000 11.4 12.8 Utah as % of U.S. 88.0% 89.1% CHILDHOOD POVERTY The rate of childhood poverty1 as a proportion of the population is increasing in both Utah and the nation. Childhood poverty is measured by estimating the number of related children (the number of children related to the head of the household by blood, marriage, or adoption) who are under the age of 18 and living in a family with an income below the poverty level. Utah's childhood poverty rate increased 37% from 1979 to 1989 (Table 16). This compares with an 11.3% increase for the nation during the same period. 1 The childhood poverty rate is the percentage of children living in poverty. It is calculated based on population estimates of those under the age of eighteen and with poverty status determined for Utah and the nation. The percentage change numbers are based on the total population estimates of those under the age of eighteen. The number of children in poverty under the age of 18 increased 16.6% between 1979 and 1989 in Utah but decreased by 0.2% in the nation for the same period (Table 17). The large increase in the number of children under the age of 18 may be a partial explanation for the increase in childhood poverty. Another factor which is a likely contributor to this difference is the 58% increase in female-headed households in Utah over the last ten years. This group includes a higher proportion of households with incomes below or near poverty levels. Childhood Poverty in Percentages Table 16 Year Utah U.S. 1979 1989 10.7 16.0 12.5 17.9 % change in poverty 17% 12% Table 17 Childhood Poverty Year Total Persons Under 18 Utah U.S. Persons Under 18 with Poverty Status Determined (in 1979 or 1989) Utah U.S. Number Below Poverty Income (in 1979 or 1989) Utah U.S. 1979 1989 540,105 63,754,906 627,444 63,604,432 530,690 62,654,139 622,104 62,278,655 56,986 10,025,623 78,041 11,161,836 14 DEMOGRAPHICS |