A new baby boom

Immigrants didn't flock here until the late 1990s as the state began preparing to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. Through much of the 1990s, non-agricultural jobs in Utah grew twice as fast as in the nation as a whole. A housing boom feeds the surge. Construction jobs grew 12.4% in 2005 and are expected to jump 15.3% this year.

About two-thirds of Utah's new immigrants came from abroad and the rest from other states, mainly California. The state's Hispanic population soared to about 270,000 in 2005, up 33.1% since 2000. Hispanics contributed about a quarter of the state's growth in the 1990s.

Utah has long had unusual demographics. It has the highest share of married households of any state, the youngest marrying age, the highest birth rate, the largest average household size and the youngest median age. The state is on its third post-World War II baby boom and is bracing for another one because of immigrants.

Hispanic fertility rates in Utah not only exceed those of non-Hispanic whites here but also those of Hispanics nationally and even of women in Mexico, says Perlich, the University of Utah demographer.

Many Utah immigrants are recent arrivals who come from rural Latin America where birth-control education is non-existent. They're now in a state where large families are the norm and birth control is not part of the public discussion.

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