Welfare recipients in Utah
Claims
"Utah has a very high number of persons on welfare."
- Derick S. Hartshorn, Bearing the Testimony of Truth
Does Utah have a high number of welfare recipients?
The table below compares Utah with the rest of the nation in terms of recipients of selected federal welfare programs as a percentage of state population. Utah's rates are among the lowest.
Table 1. Percent of the population receiving selected federal welfare benefits for the United States and Utah, and Utah's rank.
| Program (Year)
| High |
Average |
Low |
Utah |
Rank |
| Supplemental Security Income (1999) |
4.73 MS |
2.40 |
0.92 NH |
0.94 |
49 |
| Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (19991) |
10.40 MS |
2.44 |
0.24 ID |
1.03 |
45 |
| Federal Food Stamps (20001,2) |
12.56 WV |
6.12 |
2.93 NH |
3.70 |
45 |
1 Average monthly recipients.
2 For the year ending September 30.
Sources
The number of recipients in each program are from: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2001. SSI data is found in Table 543, p. 353; TANF data in Table 545, p. 354; and Food Stamps data in Table 550, p. 356.
State population estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau. 1999. 2000. (I used a weighted average of the 1999 and 2000 midyear estimates when calculating the Food Stamps rates because of the September 30 ending date.)
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