SALT LAKE CITY (November 13, 2024) – Sutherland Institute launched its Work & Opportunity Initiative today with an accompanying research report. The primary goal of the Work & Opportunity Initiative is to identify and address any barriers to upward mobility experienced by Utah families, especially those striving to escape poverty.

Sutherland’s initial policy and research effort anchoring the Work & Opportunity Initiative is the new paper, titled: Strengthening the American Dream: Addressing benefits cliffs to empower safety net participants to pursue work and opportunity.

The paper features a statewide survey of current and recent social safety net participants, in partnership with Lighthouse Research, that identifies reported instances of Utah families altering their economic decision-making due to fear of triggering a “benefits cliff.”

Key takeaways from social safety net participants who participated in the survey:

• 77% of respondents expressed concern that earning extra income would trigger a loss of benefits that would make their families worse off. 
• 43% reported that at some point they intentionally limited their household income in order to avoid triggering a benefits cliff. 
• 26% said that they had at one time or another lost government assistance due to earning too much, then lost or quit the job and re-enrolled in government programs.

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