Some people would look at the current economic downturn with a grain of salt. It is true that the current recession is a far cry from the economic depression that occurred in the 1930s, with the level of poverty then unequaled even now.
But the difference between recession and depression will not matter to the hundreds of poor people in Utah. For them, they are in poverty because of medical illness, unemployment, lack of education and other reasons.
An annual report released by the Utah Community Action Partnership (CAP) showed that 10 percent of residents in Utah lived below the line of poverty while 11 percent of children in the state are classified as poor.
Industry experts are concerned that the 11.4 percent rise in the number of poor people in Utah would exacerbate the worsening foreclosure problem in the state.
Already, about 10 percent of homeowners in Utah are behind on their mortgage payments and are at risk of seeing their properties placed on foreclosure list.
CAP, a coalition that works with people who are in need of assistance, said that based on its 2009 assessment of those who received services from community action agencies, 61 percent of recipients are new poor or those who sought help for the first time.
According to the 2009 assessment made by CAP, most of these new poor were middle class while people who have been financially struggling for some time are getting deeper into poverty. Industry experts said that the increase in the number of poor people in Utah may have been a result of the rise in the unemployment rate.
Furthermore, the CAP report stated that income inequality or the gap between the rich and the poor, has been growing.
In its report, CAP recommended that lawmakers consider removing the required asset-elimination under a government assistance program. Under current policies, people who need help are required to liquidate their assets to qualify for assistance. CAP pointed out that people need their assets to help them get self-sufficient.
Industry experts suggested that Utah legislators should allocate more money to government assistance initiatives like Medicaid to allow the state to qualify for federal matching grants. They believed that many residents of Utah need cash badly.
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