11.4% of Utah residents in 2020 were in poverty. The effects of COVID were dramatic and the reality we live in today is heavily influenced by the people who shifted into poverty during that time. The effects of poverty on a person’s life include a lack of school readiness, which will go on to impact the rest of the child’s life. A person in poverty is much more likely to have a score on the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) test that is higher than a 7. A person with a 7 on the ACE test will statistically live for 20 years less than their counterparts without the same experiences.
The biggest tell for whether a person will spend time in poverty is their childhood school readiness, and if we help those in poverty to become more successful at being school ready, we can bring down the number of people who spend time below the poverty line. One of the biggest factors in a lack of childhood school readiness is whether a child is read to as a child, so libraries need to be pushed as a fundamental part of our society, and more programs for children in poverty to be around books should be put in place. Reading has been taken over by television and if we don’t push for children to be school ready, the 11.4% of those in poverty will become a much larger number.
Nicole Cherpeski, Herriman
