The Utah Foundation was approached by Hispanic business, civil and elected leaders who asked the organization to provide key data related to Utah’s Hispanic and Latino population. The project, which received support from the Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs, highlighted disparities and challenges the community faces.
Some of the data in the 2021 report includes:
- Hispanic Utahns tend to have poorer educational outcomes and far lower educational attainment when compared to all Utahns, in general.
- Utah Hispanic households have the highest median income of any Hispanic population in the Mountain states. However, the median income overall in Utah is about 25% higher than that of the Hispanic population.
- Among the Mountain states, Utah has the highest disparity in childhood poverty between Hispanic children and the general population.
- Hispanic Utahns are far more likely than all Utahns, in general, to have experienced a loss of income since the pandemic. The fall 2020 data on the coronavirus’ economic impacts show that 2 in 5 Utahns saw a loss of employment income. For Hispanic Utahns, that impact was 3 in 5.
- A greater proportion of Hispanic Utahns are having a hard time paying usual household expenses during the coronavirus pandemic as compared to all Utahns, in general.
- Hispanic Utahns are less likely to have health insurance but also less likely than all Utahns, in general, to have days with poor physical health.
The report notes that it “explores a set of challenges that are neither universal to all Hispanic Utahns nor set in stone.”
View Article