Isle poverty rate is stable
2003 U.S. Census figures show that the rate of poverty rose nationally nearly 2 percent
POVERTY appears to be growing nationally, but it's at a standstill in Hawaii, according to the latest statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
In one of the more startling statistics, the bureau said the number of children under age 5 in poverty continues to grow -- to 20.3 percent nationally in 2003 compared with 18.9 percent in 1999. In Hawaii, that number remained at or near 17 percent, according to 2003 statistics that were released yesterday. The report is part of the bureau's program to assist the federal government in distributing funds to state and local government agencies that rely upon income and poverty estimates.
With 10.8 percent -- or 133,561 people -- living in poverty, Hawaii remains below the national average of 12.5 percent or about 36 million people.
The bureau report indicated that despite the nation's vast wealth, including a booming real estate market, many families -- especially the young -- continued to struggle financially.
Those who assist residents living on small incomes said families in Hawaii face more difficulties than households in many other states, because of the islands' high cost of living -- about 30 percent above the national average.
"Hawaii has the lowest home ownership of any state in the nation," said Tom Blackburn-Rodriguez, an official with Maui Economic Opportunity Inc., a nonprofit group that helps the poor.
Statewide, Head Start Programs designed to provide child-care for poor families with children ages 3 to 5 have waiting lists due to lack of adequate federal grants.
Oahu Head Start acting director Kathy Minami said 358 children were on its waiting list, including 70 in Central Oahu, 70 in Honolulu, 116 in Leeward Oahu and 102 in Windward Oahu.
Minami said her group received federal funding for 1,650 children and had enrolled 1,660 children.
She said without the Head Start program, many parents would have financial difficulty.
"It puts them in a bind. In order to go to school or get a job, you have to have child care," she said.
On Maui, nearly 300 qualified children are on the waiting list for the Head Start Program.
Maui Economic Opportunity Executive Director Gladys Baisa said under the program, the adult parent is required to obtain a job, be in school or receiving job training.
Sometimes, unexpected health problems also occur among families that require Head Start help, said Michelle Kaylor, Maui Economic Opportunity Head Start's policy board chairperson.
Kaylor said she knows of a single mother who became sick and permanently hospitalized. Now, the grandmother is taking care of the woman's son. Kaylor said the grandmother continues to work to support herself and the grandson and he receives child care at the Head Start Program.
Baisa said the problem of poverty is complex in Hawaii and that many adults have two jobs but the pay is low. "These young families can't find a place to live. They can't afford the rent. Many of them are living with their parents or they live with two to three families," she said.
"How are these people going to make it? It's scary."
Mississippi led the nation with 18.3 percent, or 517,628 people, in poverty, compared to the low of 6.4 percent, or 81,647 people, in New Hampshire.
A two-person family in 2003 was living in poverty if it earned about $12,015 or less and a four-person family $18,810 or less, according to the Census Bureau.
The United States had been making progress in reducing poverty, shrinking the population of the poor from 15.1 percent or 39.2 million people in 1993 to 11.9 percent or 32.7 million people in 1999, according to bureau statistics.