This blog is a place for journalists to discuss their experiences covering poverty. It works in tandem with onpoverty.org, a site run by Washington and Lee University's American Poverty Journalism Center.
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In Utah, 1 in 30 students are homeless
State education authorities say 10,388 of the 551,013 students enrolled in schools in Utah are considered homeless, as compared with one in 50 nationally. The typical Utah homeless family consists of a single mother with two children, who struggles to pay for housing due to low income. For almost every adult who is homeless, there is a child. But the child is more likely to experience hunger, suffer chronic health problems, repeat a grade in school or drop out of school altogether, the state says.
Original story
Labels: homeless, students, Utah
Employers attempting to block unemployment benefits
Employers are trying to block jobless benefits to more than a quarter of the people who apply for them nationwide, including in Utah. Even if employees quit their jobs, they may be eligible for benefits if they prove that remaining on the job would have an adverse effect or that they continue to be in the labor market. Meanwhile, unemployment in Utah is at 4.3 percent, and initial unemployment benefits claims in January were up 10,000 from a year ago, to 24,000.
Original story
Labels: jobless benefits, unemployment benefits claims, unemployment eligibility, Utah
Budget cuts in Utah hit mentally ill hardest
Diminishing funds for Medicaid services will harm the quality of life of mentally ill Utah residents more drastically than any other disabled group. The state has a $1.5 billion revenue shortfall and has proposed cuts to mental-health services totaling nearly $3.5 million. However, with another $10.5 million loss in federal funds, the total cuts to mental-health services come to nearly $14 million.
Original story
Labels: budget cuts, Medicaid, mental-health services, mentally ill, Utah
Rural states have country’s lowest unemployment rates
Five contiguous rural states -- Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Utah and Nebraska – have the lowest unemployment rates in the country. These states escaped some of the effects of the economic downturn by avoiding the housing boom and bust and evaded job losses in the financial sector because their lenders were cautious, some economists say. The states also continue to produce commodities that are in high demand, including crops, coal and natural gas.
Original story
Labels: Nebraska, North Dakota, rural states, South Dakota, unemployment rate, Utah, Wyoming
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