In the ongoing debate over so-called Hawaiian "entitlement" programs out of the federal (and state) government, one of the common criticisms is that these programs are dealing with a problem that — increasingly — does not exist.

Hawaiians, it is argued, have reached the highest pinnacles of economic and political success in Hawai'i and do not need, nor should they expect, extra help.

That's true, in an anecdotal way. And it is equally true in some statistical measurements. Income distribution among Hawaiians is not that much different than it is for all other groups.

That would be, perhaps even is, a comforting statistic. But it conceals other facts that make it difficult to argue that Hawaiians, assuming they wish to, are completely able to achieve the American Dream.

The latest word on this ongoing argument comes in a paper written for the Second Annual Hawaiian Business Conference, hosted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The lead author is Seiji Naya, former director of the state Office of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and now a visiting senior fellow at the East West Center.

Now, considering the paper was prepared for OHA, which after all is in the business of offering and promoting programs for Hawaiians, it is easy to assume the conclusion would be that such programs are indeed a very good thing.

But Naya's paper is more subtle than that.

In fact, a major conclusion is that income distribution among Hawaiians is just about the same as it is for non-Hawaiian groups. Particularly when it comes to family groups, the distribution of income from the very poorest to the most wealthy is just about the same among Hawaiians and non-Native Hawaiian groups, he reports. Yes, there is inequality in income distribution, but it is roughly the same for everyone.

Good news, right?

Well, yes. But Naya and his co-authors point out that this relatively equal pattern of income distribution masks a more sobering fact: Hawaiians, overall, have a much lower per-capita income. Yes, there are rich Hawaiians and poor Hawaiians, but overall, this group just doesn't get its fair share of the pie.

The poverty rate for Hawaiians is higher than the overall state average. But the "staggering" figure is that, among the people considered to be in poverty in the Islands, fully 27 percent of them are Native Hawaiians.

Put another way: Naya points out that nearly a third of all people who earn less than $10,000 are Native Hawaiians versus about 19 percent for non-Native Hawaiians. It works the other way as well: A smaller percentage of those in the high-income group are Native Hawaiians as compared with non-Hawaiians.

Naya notes another sad fact. The only category in which Hawaiians out-earn the rest of the state is in public assistance.

Now, there are lots of reasons for these discrepancies, including the fact that Hawaiians tend to be younger (less wealth accumulation), come from larger families, are somewhat less-well-educated and have fewer people in high-income fields.

Those are structural, factual things that have nothing to do with the genetic makeup of an individual and everything to do with the economic opportunities they face.

Naya's conclusion is that most of these factors are long-term problems that demand long-term solutions.

What can be done in the short term?

He recommends, among other things, that OHA invest in micro-loans, small amounts of money to small start-up companies that don't have the collateral to win full-scale business loans. It is an approach that has worked well in India and in many third-world countries.

Is that the answer? Who knows? But what seems to be obvious is that the answer to Hawaiian poverty and lack of financial success is not going to come from pretending it does not exist.

Reach Jerry Burris at jburris@honoluluadvertiser.com.