Utah has one of the nation’s lowest rates of income inequality in part because of the Church of Latter-day Saints’ welfare system, but it also ranks dead last for economic equality for women
A few blocks from the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, a huge grain elevator rises 178 feet into the grey sky. It is a towering tribute to an ideology that economists and members of the Mormon church credit for making Utah the most economically equal state in America.
The granary looms over Welfare Square, made up of a small supermarket with half a dozen perfectly uniform shelves stocked with pantry staples for the needy. With a note from a local bishop, anyone – church member or not – can walk in and fill up on groceries at no charge. There’s also a cheese factory and a secondhand clothing shop. All of this contributes to a powerful private welfare system that distributes tens of millions of dollars in cash and goods a year around the world – the church also sends food and aid to its congregations in Asia and Africa.
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