Hawai'i poverty increase outpaces nation
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawai'i's growth in poverty is among the highest in the nation, according to U.S. Census figures released yesterday.
Census figures show 11.4 percent of Hawai'i's population (about 142,000 people) living in poverty in 2002, up from 10.2 percent (about 125,000 people) in 2001. The 1.2 percentage point increase is the fourth-largest increase in the country, with the highest being Mississippi's 1.8 percent increase.
Hawai'i's poverty rate, which was tied with Idaho, is higher than 27 states.
Nationally, the poverty rate rose for the second straight year to 12.1 percent in 2002, from 11.7 percent the year before. Even so, the poverty rate last year remained below the average for the previous two decades.
The poverty increases were concentrated among African Americans, suburban residents and Midwesterners. By the end of last year, 34.6 million Americans lived in poverty. Among those, 12.1 million are children, up from 11.7 million in 2001.
U.S. household incomes declined for the third year in a row, and nearly 1.7 million people in the country fell into poverty as the economy recovered sluggishly from the 2001 recession.
Hawai'i Foodbank officials have seen a rise in the demand for emergency food since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Lori Kaya, the agency's development and communications coordinator. Kaya said charitable agencies have seen an increase in the demand for emergency food and that the Aloha United Way 211 referral number has also had a rise in calls for emergency food.
"The feeling that I get is since the aftermath and Hawai'i's economic downturn and the job layoffs and the salary cuts, it's been pretty constant," Kaya said of the increased demand for food.
Gov. Linda Lingle said her administration is focused on creating more jobs and job-training opportunities. That would involve not only government services but working with the private sector as well, she said.
"We need to beef up training to make certain that when jobs are created that people who need them have the skills necessary," she said. "One of the things I feel is important is to make certain that people don't lose hope. People who are on government assistance should know that there's another way of life, that there is an opportunity for them."
The government's poverty line varies by age and family size, and changes over time with the cost of living. In 2002, an individual under 65 earning up to $9,359 per year was living in poverty. For a family of four, the poverty line was drawn at $18,244 annually.
The nation's median household cash income, the level at which half of Americans earn more money and half earn less, fell 1.1 percent to $42,409 in 2002 from $42,900 the year before. Annual median household cash income, which excludes non-cash payments such as food stamps or housing subsidies, peaked in 1999 at $43,915, and has dropped since then 3.4 percent.
Advertiser Capitol Bureau reporter Lynda Arakawa contributed information about Hawai'i's poverty figures. Additional information came from the Washington Post and The Associated Press.
On the Net:
- Census Bureau
www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty02.html
