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SALT LAKE CITY — From the snow-capped mountains to its prehistoric past, Utah is full of hidden gems.
And now a new study by Sutherland Institute and the American Conservative Union Foundation found Utah ranks first in the nation for family prosperity.
The ranking comes from the Family Prosperity Index (FPI), which calculates economic and social factors that are indicative of family prosperity.
The study explores everything from household income to marriages and divorces to illicit drug use, gauging whether or not a state is moving towards the goal of creating family prosperity.
According to the American Conservative Union Foundation, the index offers “a true alternative to narrower economic measures such as Gross Domestic Product or the unemployment rate,” and offers a broader vision of the success families find within a certain area.
“Rather than measuring and ranking a stand-alone niche of Utah’s economy that many never see or experience, the Family Prosperity Index measures whether Utah’s economic prosperity is reaching Utah’s families, and how Utah’s families are driving Utah’s economic prosperity,” Sutherland Institute Director of Public Policy Derek Monson said.
The study found Utah ranked not only at the top of the Index but well above the second-ranked state, North Dakota, and the normalized national average (5.0) and has increased by 3.6 percent over the last five indexes, growing from 7.12 in 2012 to 7.38 in 2016.
The six indexes that make up the FPI include Economics, Demographics, Family Self-Sufficiency, Family Structure, Family Culture and Family Health and grow even more specific by sub-index with categories like “property crime” (where Utah demonstrates a particularly poor showing) and “births to unwed mothers” (where Utah excels).
Utah leads, however, in every major index except Economics where it ranks second only to North Dakota, most likely due to North Dakota’s fracking boom.
Some of the sub-indexes in the study, including “weekly church attendance” and “fertility and child counts,” do favor the habits of Utah’s religious majority, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and certainly contributed to Utah’s positive standing.
Utah’s self-mortality sub-index is cause for concern, however, and indicates a serious issue with suicide and drug overdose where Utah unfortunately has higher-than-average rates. Salt Lake County also shows disturbing negative trends with regards to children in poverty, violent crime rate, the level of married taxpayers and unwed childbirth.
Though Utah has definite room to improve in certain areas, many are finding the study’s findings cause for celebration.
“Of all the awards and accolades Utah has received, this may very well be the most significant,” said Sutherland Institute President Boyd Matheson. “While Utah has long recognized family as a critical social engine, this report illustrates the power of the family as an economic engine. Lawmakers would be wise to recognize that just as a strong economy helps families, strong families strengthen economies."
Liesl is a web reporter at KSL.com, section editor of KSL's Tech and Science section and a student at Brigham Young University. You can email her at lnielsen@ksl.com.
