The goal of the Working Families Benchmarking Project is to identify a variety of economic trends affecting working families across Utah, and then to examine those issues through a comparative lens, evaluating Utah’s overall progress by using a peer state as a benchmark. Colorado was chosen for this inaugural edition, in part for its geographic proximity to Utah — and thus relatively similar regional identity — as well as for its comparable rates of economic and population growth, demographics, and policy challenges.

Many existing economic comparison studies and rankings look at the economy as a whole or at its impact on specific sectors or on employers.  This project seeks to augment those very useful comparisons by focusing on how the economy is experienced by middle and lower-income families. In particular, it is these families whose children are most at risk for not achieving their potential in school and later in the workplace and in society in general.  Thus, how they experience the economy is of particular interest to Voices for Utah Children.   

In Part I of the Project, we focus on economic opportunity. The dynamism, flexibility, and competitiveness of a state’s economy is a major contributor to economic opportunity, so we look at this topic through a wide range of metrics, from business climate and entrepreneurship rankings to educational attainment and demographic gaps.  

Utah ranks ahead of Colorado in:

• Business climate rankings
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
• Lower unemployment
• Labor force participation
• Higher education system investment
• Referring fewer minority youth to the correctional system
• Reducing inequality and increasing social mobility

Colorado outpaces Utah in:

• Pre-K and kindergarten enrollment
• K-12 investment and performance
• Higher education attainment
• Workforce productivity
• Entrepreneurship
• The status of women in the economy

The gaps in educational attainment are perhaps the finding
of greatest concern for Utah’s long-term future.

Since education is the foundation of opportunity and prosperity in a modern economy, Colorado’s success in educating its population and attracting highly educated migrants from other states may well hold lessons for Utah. Utah is wise to invest more that Colorado in higher education to attempt to make up this gap and should apply a similar lesson in the area of pre-K-12 funding.

As Utah builds on its many assets and grapples with its challenges in the years to come, we hope that this benchmarking project may contribute in a constructive way to the broader economic policy conversation among experts, policymakers, and the general public.  

For more detailed information, see the complete printer-friendly report:

Working Families Benchmarking Project Part One: Economic Opportunity

These measures of economic opportunity also relate directly to the questions we address in Part 2: Standard of Living.

For 30 years now, Voices for Utah Children has called on our state, federal and local leaders to put children’s needs first. But the work is not done. The children of 30 years ago now have children of their own. Too many of these children are growing up in poverty, without access to healthcare or quality educational opportunities.

How can you be involved?

Make a tax-deductible donation to Voices for Utah Children—or join our Network with a monthly donation of $20 or more.  Network membership includes complimentary admission to Network events with food, socializing, and opportunity to meet child advocacy experts. And don't forget to join our listserv to stay informed!

We look forward to the future of Voices for Utah Children and we hope you will be a part of our next 30 years.

Special thanks to American Express for sponsoring our 30th Anniversary Year. 

Love UT Give UT is Thursday, March 31 and we need your help!

Donate Now

Public policies affect children—but children don’t vote. At Voices for Utah Children, we raise our voices on behalf of children, informing policymakers that government can and should act to keep kids safe and help them succeed.

Voices for Utah Children actively seeks grant money from children’s foundations to support our research and educational efforts, but most grant funding cannot be used for lobbying. Voices for Utah Children needs donations from community members to fund staff time at Capitol Hill—where we put our knowledge about children into action by supporting legislation that protects and invests in children.

Your support was crucial to the successful legislative session we just completed. Because of your donations, Voices for Utah Children won important victories benefiting Utah children and families:

• Additional money for quality preschool for 4,000 children;
• Removal of the 5-year waiting period for legal immigrant children to help 1,000 children enroll in CHIP and Medicaid;
• Expanded Medicaid coverage to 3,800 parents in poverty;
• The first CHIP and Medicaid outreach funding since 2007 to support the Department of Health’s efforts to reach and enroll eligible Hispanic families.

Utah’s statewide day of giving is Love UT Give UT on March 31. Your tax-deductible donation to Voices for Utah Children goes even further during the Love UT Give UT campaign. Generous donors may match your donation and if Voices for Utah Children is among the Utah charities that receive the most donations of at least $10 each from different individual supporters, we could win up to $10,000 to support our mission.

In this video, a Utah child explains some of the victories Voices for Utah Children has won for Utah kids. Help us keep speaking out for the next generation of Utah kids. Donate by March 31 to Voices for Utah Children through Love UT Give UT at http://bit.ly/loveUTchildren

Video: A 10-year-old explains why you should support Voices for Utah Children

Donate Now

March 31, 2016 is Love UT Give UT!

It’s a day for Utahns to give to the nonprofits that make Utah special. Every donation to Voices for Utah Children through Love UT Give UT gives Voices a chance to win matching grants and prizes.

And you don't have to wait!  Donate now at http://bit.ly/loveUTchildren.

For 30 years now, Voices for Utah Children has called on our state, federal and local leaders to put children’s needs first. But the work is not done. The children of 30 years ago now have children of their own. Too many of these children are growing up in poverty, without access to healthcare or quality educational opportunities.

How can you be involved?

Make a tax-deductible donation to Voices for Utah Children—or join our Network with a monthly donation of $20 or more.  Network membership includes complimentary admission to Network events with food, socializing, and opportunity to meet child advocacy experts. And don't forget to join our listserv to stay informed!

We look forward to the future of Voices for Utah Children and we hope you will be a part of our next 30 years.

Special thanks to American Express for sponsoring our 30th Anniversary Year.