Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an article about a recent poll – conducted by the nonpartisan and objective research organization NORC at the University of Chicago – that showed a decrease in the importance of American values such as patriotism, religion, having children, and community involvement, and an increase in the importance of money. This reported shift in values elicited a range of responses, from alarm to a push for hope and community. However, one missing element in the discussion is how these values – and their economic impacts – begin and are reinforced in families. 

At a recent event called the FREE Forum, an event co-hosted by Sutherland Institute and American Enterprise Institute in Salt Lake City, panelist Brad Wilcox highlighted the connection between Utah’s family and economic health when he discussed “the Utah miracle” and noted that the state’s economic success is “all connected to the health and strength of the Utah family.”  

Beyond the economy, Utah’s community wellbeing is also tied to families. As Tim Carney, a FREE Forum panelist, said, “Strong communities take strong families and strong families take strong communities.” 

But even in Utah, family health and child outcomes face significant problems that weaken the family institution. Panelists mentioned a variety of issues: poor mental health, the decline of adult confidence in marriage and having children, the dramatic increase in social media use among youth and young adults affecting their ability to connect and form relationships, and the state’s subsequent decline in birth rates and marriage rates. 

The statistics bear out some of the panelists’ assessments. Utah ranks above average nationally for adults reporting anxiety and depression, and has the ninth-highest, age-adjusted suicide rate in the U.S. with suicide being the leading cause of death in 2020 for Utahns ages 10 to 24. Utah has also seen a consistent decline in birth rates over the last decade, and marriage rates are following the national downward trend. 

One policy step forward in addressing these threats is to prioritize family structure in state data collection and outcome reporting. Currently, family structure is rarely included in connection with important state-reported outcomes such as high school graduation rates and child poverty statistics. This is despite the firmly grounded connection – established over decades of replicated social science research – between family structure and individual education and economic outcomes. 

The lack of family structure data means that our public policy debate often lacks a full picture of why and how real-world problems play out on the ground and what we can do about them. By tracking and reporting family structure in connection with important outcome metrics, we can better understand the problems that public policy purports to solve. 

Wilcox mentioned that “It’d be wonderful [for the state of Utah to collect family data] in terms of just giving people a sense of how much this matters. But also, kind of helping…school districts and other institutions across the state figure out how best to serve the kids and their different needs and concerns here in Utah.” 

Putting the family at the center of our public policy conversation starts with centering the family in our data. Investing in tracking and reporting family structure and its connection to important social and health outcome measures can help secure strong families and communities. Doing so will also help ensure that we don’t lose sight of what makes us successful as a state. By focusing on family data, we can better serve what embodies our communities and build a brighter future for Utah.