People in poverty increasing in Hawai'i

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The number of people living in poverty in Hawai'i grew by nearly 38,000 during the 1990s, according to U.S. Census figures released today.

In what some are attributing to the state's enduring economic woes, poverty increased from 1989 to 1999. The only exception is the poverty rate among people 65 and older, which declined slightly.

The state percentage of people living in poverty increased from 8.3 to 10.7 percent, slightly below the national average. Overall, the number of Hawai'i families living below the poverty level also grew by 38 percent or more than 6,000 families.

The U.S. poverty line in 1999 for a family of four was $17,029; for a family of three it was $13,290.

The poverty line represents an income level that is inadequate to provide the essentials of food, clothing and shelter for a person or family. Presumably, the challenges to those living at or below the poverty level in Hawai'i would be greater since the cost of living is estimated to be at least 30 percent higher than the Mainland.

The poverty figures spell out an increased need for family support from public and nonprofit agencies, said Sylvia Yuen, director of the Center on the Family at the University of Hawai'i.

"I think that we as a society should be concerned because kids and certain families are more vulnerable and they need support so that those kids can be more successful," Yuen said. "If we don't provide that support to those kids early on we will have to pay a much higher price in terms of (school) dropouts, and in terms of other societal problems."

Yuen said she also was concerned that the number of poor families headed by single women increased from about 6,900 to more than 10,000, a 45 percent increase.

"I think that what those trends indicate is that when the poverty rate rises, there are some groups that are disproportionately affected," she said.

Yuen attributed the increase in poverty largely to the state's stagnant economy in the 1990s.

The increase in the number of families and people in poverty is also largely from a growth in the state population, said Kris Foster, financial assistance administrator for the state Department of Human Services. But Foster also said in the past 10 years the state has seen an influx of noncitizens, "whose ability to earn anything above minimum wage is very, very limited."

The number of foreign-born people living in Hawai'i increased from 162,704 in 1990 to 212,229 in 2000, a 30 percent rise. The population of people from the region that includes Pacific island nations, Australia and New Zealand, went from 8,237 in 1990 to 13,452 in 2000, an increase of 63 percent.

"I suspect the other thing that does happen is when you're working in a community whose primary source of income is in the service industry, that although the cost of living goes up, the reimbursement for that kind of labor has not increased," Foster said. "And that's where most of the people make their living."