An interview broadcast on Hawaii Public Radio’s “The Conversation” on Wednesday put some facts and figures behind what we all know, that its hard to survive in Hawaii’s economy.
As a result of economic woes during the Covid pandemic, three out of five families in Hawaii (59%) are now either living in poverty, or fall in a category of “asset limited, income constrained, employed,” referred to as ALICE, a term for working households that are just barely able to make ends meet. That figure is up from 42% in 2018.
Michelle Kauhane, senior vice president of community grants and initiatives for the Hawaii Community Foundation, “we’re talking about households who have very little savings because they are living paycheck to paycheck. So there’s not a lot of reserves.”
And the number could easily grow, since there are additional families with incomes just above the ALICE threshhold, and could easily fall as a result of any kind of economic shock.
Hawaiian and hispanic families have the highest proportion living in below the ALICE upper limit, which was $148,771 in 2018. And the overall rates were highest in Hawaii and Maui counties, according to data Kauhane cited.
Aloha United Way and the Hawaii Community Foundation are partnering with a group of nonprofit agencies is focusing on promoting family financial stability and affordable housing.
There’s a lot more information available in a report, “ALICE in Hawaii: A financial Hardship Study,” published in 2020.
This puts our situation in pretty stark terms. But we’re not alone. Communities across the country are reflecting the pronounced growth in income inequality that began in the 1970s and has worsened progressively since.
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Thank you for shining a light in this. It is very disturbing to face the stark reality that most Americans are barely getting by. Hawaii Island is definitely a place of hardship for many people.
It’s certainly not a paradise.
While the rich get richer……..
When the ALICE Report was first issued a number of years ago, it had the backing of some serious business leaders and it looked like that perspective would result in a newfound focus on the need to protect low and middle-income Hawaii residents from being crushed by market forces. Based upon that consensus among major “stakeholders,” I was hoping lawmakers would get approval from our corporate overlords to pass legislation and develop programs that would help raise wages, increase benefits, provide low cost, or at least truly “affordable” housing.
But my optimism has faded. The state government’s own Department of Labor, after studying the real world Hawaii economy, has determined Hawaii employees MUST earn at least $19 an hour for the bare necessities of life. Yet the Legislative leadership is, as we speak, engaged in role-playing games designed to APPEAR to care about conditions faced by low-income workers in the expectation that very few low wage workers will bother to vote in the next election. Fewer still will contribute to a politician’s campaign account.
The downward trajectory of the ALICE families tracks closely with the alienation of low wage workers, and renters, from the notion that we can use democratic means like elections to improve our lives, to create a better future for our families.
Politicians like Rep Saiki (and LtG Green) are living on high floors in upscale high rises —away from the “maddening crowd” — playing their part in widening the gap btwn have and have-nots.
Not the best analogy. I’m not sure about Saiki, but Green has legitimately earned Medical Doctor wages for many years of his life.
Someone posted the obscene salaries for 2021 for CEO BOH, 7.3 million, Connie Lau, former CEO Hawaiian Electric, 5.9 million, Cox CEO Matson, 5.9 Million, Harrison, CEO First Hawaiian, 4.4 million. No wonder prices, rates are so high and interest rates so low CD’s and Savings.
“Growth is concentrated in low-wage jobs; there have been minimal increases in wages”
That would seem to correlate with the difficulty employers complain of in hiring workers.
All of this is happening while Mazie Hirono is focused on pronoun usage, mean tweets, and the disparate effect of climate change on Women…and Shatz is mostly silent so we don’t know what he’s thinking/doing. Wheew, I feel better now after typing that. :-).
If you check any channel of communication you will heard him loud and clear.
https://youtu.be/AjwLwEbYgcc
1. $100 check to each Hawaii resident
2. Suspension of Hawaii’s gas tax
3. Request to President Biden to suspend Jones Act to help Hawaii residents hit by crippling inflation
4. Tax amongst the Honolulu City Council about possible property tax relief due to soaring home values
Have he members of our mainstream media bothered to follow up on any of these items that were in the news a few months ago?
I apologize for the spelling errors in my previous post:
4.Talk amongst the Honolulu City Council about possible property tax relief due to soaring home values.
Have the members of our mainstream media….
#5. Tough talk amongst our leaders about doubling down on crime and yet when the dust settles, there is NO money for a new prison but plenty of money for a new stadium and of course, there will always be money for the rail even if it destroys our lowly taxpayers.
6. If I wasn’t so tied to Hawaii, I would have moved years ago. Our leaders sold us out a long time ago and ran this place into the ground.