Blog Posts
Insight: Utah’s Mental Health Challenges are Significant, but there is a Silver Lining
By: Laura Summers On August 14, 2019, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute released a report on Utah’s Mental Health System. This report was produced in collaboration with the Utah Hospital Association and provides a comprehensive review of the current state of mental health services in Utah, highlighting gaps in services, barriers to providing and accessing care, and considerations for improving the system. A few findings from the report include: […]
Insight: Utah’s Tech Sector Supports One in Seven Jobs in the State
By: Levi Pace Tech is behind every post we see and every screen we touch. It’s every place we have a digital account. I’m typing this blog while working remotely, periodically checking my smartphone. […]
Insight: Utah Park Travel: What are the Summer Hotspots?
By: Jennifer Leaver Summer is here and so is the heat! With Utah temperatures hovering around and surpassing 100 degrees lately, I began thinking about summer vacation and pondering Utah’s travel hotspots (no pun intended). In other words, where in Utah can we expect to see the most visitors this summer, and when is the best time to join ‘em…or avoid ‘em? […]
Insight: Rising Rents and Changing Preferences Define Salt Lake’s Rental Apartment Market
By: DJ Benway Apartment rental rates in Salt Lake County are nearly double from where they were 18 years ago. In 2000, the average rent for an apartment in Salt Lake County was $647 per month. By 2018, the average rent increased to $1,153 per month (Figure 1). Robust economic and demographic growth, increased demand, and shifting housing preferences have led to exceptional demand for apartments in the region. Despite the record number of apartment units developed since 2014—over 27,000 units—vacancy rates remain low and rental rates continue to increase. Figure 1: Average Rent for Apartment Units in Salt Lake[...]
Insight: As National Health Care Hiring Continues to Slide, Where Does Utah Stand?
By: Laura Summers Health care is one of the nation’s strongest employment sectors. In recent months, however, national headlines pointing to a significant slowing of new jobs in recent months have the industry speculating whether the health care employment boom is coming to an end.[i] Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show declining rates of employment in both April and May 2019 that haven’t been seen since mid-2017. […]
Insight: Race/Ethnicity in the Wasatch Front Labor Force: An Equal Employment Opportunity Analysis
By: Emily Harris State and local governments are required to submit an annual demographic analysis of their workforce to ensure that they are compliant with the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Act. Federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, sex, race, sexual orientation, disability, and more, and applies to personnel functions including hiring, compensation, promotions, and termination.[1] Most public and private organizations with over 15 employees are required to follow these federally mandated EEO practices. Employers that embrace and ensure these EEO policies are more likely to have quicker talent recruitment, higher retention, and better overall employee satisfaction. […]
Insight: Final 2018 Vintage Census Estimate Release and Gardner Institute Products
By: Mallory Bateman, Emily Harris, and Natalie Young While the Census Bureau is most well-known for the decennial census (next up, 2020!), they are also responsible for a multitude of other surveys and products. One suite of products, which impacts funding allocation in Utah, are the Population and Housing Unit Estimates. […]
Insight: Utah’s Near Future: Short-term Population Projections
By: Mike Hollingshaus We are pleased to release our new short-term projections for 2018 to 2028. They incorporate the latest data to give Utahns newer insights into our changing demographics. Our projections show the state continuing to grow over the next ten years, at an average of 1.7 percent annually. This translates into 570,000 people. Household growth is also robust with an increase of 270,000 over 10 years. In general, births have slowed, and net migration is becoming an even more important component of Utah’s growth. […]
Insight: Conquering Carbon Dioxide
By: Thomas Holst Reducing greenhouse gas emissions has become a hot-button topic. After the US Global Change Research Program stated last year that “human activities . . . are the dominant cause of the observed warming,”[i] reactions have been strong. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney stated, “we better hope it [warming] is man-made, because if it’s not we’re in trouble.” […]
Insight: Utah’s Economic Commonwealth
By: Natalie Gochnour Originally published in Utah Business Prominent Utah historian, Thomas Alexander wrote the Beehive State’s official history titled Utah, the Right Place, as part of Utah’s centennial celebration in 1996. Mr. Alexander, who is now a professor emeritus at Brigham Young University, specializes in western US history and frequently writes about economic themes. He coined the term “economic commonwealth” in describing Utah’s diversifying and evolving economy since 1980 and I think Mr. Alexander got it right. While we typically think of a commonwealth as a US state (there are four of them) or the British Empire, the term dates back[...]