Nearly 11% of Utahns in poverty, study finds
Saturday, January 13, 2007(Deseret Morning News)
Nearly 11% of Utahns in poverty, study finds
While
Congress awaits Senate action on a minimum-wage
hike from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour, a new report
says that 10.9 percent of Utahns and one Utah
child in 10 live in poverty.
The nonprofit Utah Issues: The Center for Eliminating Poverty this past week released a fact sheet that asks where the state stands on poverty. The group also says that almost half of Utah workers do not earn enough to support a family.
According to Utah Issues, not enough is being done in this state to stave off incidents of hunger among Utah's poor or to provide adequate supplies of affordable housing and health insurance for low-income workers.
Speaking on a personal level, Utah Issues consultant Lynne Finney said it's "shocking" that one in 10 Utah children is living in poverty.
"One of the reasons for that is the fact that our minimum wage hasn't been raised," Finney said.
Last November, six states, including four in the Rocky Mountain region, passed ballot initiatives that raised their states' minimum wages above the federal limit of $5.15, which was established in 1997. More than 20 other states have also approved increases in state wages above the current federal level.
Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop, both R-Utah,
voted last Wednesday against the successful
bill in the House to raise the minimum wage,
saying it would cause more problems than it
would solve.
Utah lawmakers have opposed a minimum-wage hike in this state out of fear jobs will be lost and small businesses will be hurt. Legislators have felt "pressure" from small-business owners who are trying to keep wages low to help sustain profitability, according to Utah Issues executive director Doug Macdonald.
A bill for the upcoming session may again seek an increase in wages, and lawmakers can expect to hear from Utah Issues.
"We'll make a pretty good showing there," Macdonald said.
He may be banking on a state tax surplus that near the end of last year Macdonald himself estimated was already at about $150 million, with the current fiscal year ending June 30.
The nonprofit Utah Issues: The Center for Eliminating Poverty this past week released a fact sheet that asks where the state stands on poverty. The group also says that almost half of Utah workers do not earn enough to support a family.
According to Utah Issues, not enough is being done in this state to stave off incidents of hunger among Utah's poor or to provide adequate supplies of affordable housing and health insurance for low-income workers.
Speaking on a personal level, Utah Issues consultant Lynne Finney said it's "shocking" that one in 10 Utah children is living in poverty.
"One of the reasons for that is the fact that our minimum wage hasn't been raised," Finney said.
Last November, six states, including four in the Rocky Mountain region, passed ballot initiatives that raised their states' minimum wages above the federal limit of $5.15, which was established in 1997. More than 20 other states have also approved increases in state wages above the current federal level.
Utah lawmakers have opposed a minimum-wage hike in this state out of fear jobs will be lost and small businesses will be hurt. Legislators have felt "pressure" from small-business owners who are trying to keep wages low to help sustain profitability, according to Utah Issues executive director Doug Macdonald.
A bill for the upcoming session may again seek an increase in wages, and lawmakers can expect to hear from Utah Issues.
"We'll make a pretty good showing there," Macdonald said.
He may be banking on a state tax surplus that near the end of last year Macdonald himself estimated was already at about $150 million, with the current fiscal year ending June 30.
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com