For people living in a state claiming the largest middle class and the lowest income inequality in the nation, Utahns unsurprisingly understand a great deal about their neighbors in need. In a recent survey conducted for the Next Generation Freedom Fund (NGFF) by Heart+Mind Strategies and ORC International, over a quarter (27 percent) of Utahns have heard of intergenerational poverty (high for a relatively obscure issue) and can aptly describe it. Furthermore, Utahns seem to have an intuitive feel for why intergenerational poverty is different from situational poverty.
Utahns who have heard of intergenerational poverty are more than likely to describe it as “poverty being a cultural and generational problem, where new generations are being born into poverty and know no other way of life than poverty.” Understanding the existence of a stifling culture of dependency, respondents added, “They learn from within the welfare system.”
