Poverty

Welfare in Utah: What Programs are Available and How Have Federal Reforms Affected Them?

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

In 1996, promising to “end welfare as we know it,” President Bill Clinton signed into law The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). By so doing, the landscape of government assistance to the poor was radically altered. Low-income individuals were no longer provided with lifetime monetary subsidies from the federal government. Instead, state governments were given block grant funding to implement programs to assist this population.

Utah’s Implementation of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

Unlike most developed countries in the world, the United States does not have nationalized health insurance. Rather, health insurance is largely provided by the private sector in the U.S. with national health insurance for certain segments of the population, namely the elderly (Medicare) and poor (Medicaid). One of the concerns of many Americans with this approach is that there is a segment of the population that remains uninsured. Many of these uninsured earn too much … Continued

Household Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in Utah

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

The Utah economy experienced a decade of growth and expansion during the 1990s that is unparalleled in Utah’s peacetime history. The United States economy is also performing extraordinarily well. Unemployment rates reached 30 year lows around 3 percent in Utah and 4.1 percent nationally. In October of 1998, Utah Foundation reported that the growth in the economy was having a positive impact on the lives of low and middle income Americans in general and for … Continued