Hawaii

ALICE Report: 1 in 3 Hawaii families considering moving away

Published

4 months ago

January 9, 2025

ALICE Report: 1 in 3 Hawaii families considering moving away

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A new Aloha United Way report released today shows 1 in 3 Hawaii households considered moving away over the past year. Should the trend continue, it would have a devastating impact on our economy.

Hawaii’s high cost of living and lack of affordable housing mean more than half a million residents are barely scraping by.

That’s one of the findings from the 2024 State of ALICE in Hawaii report, which looks at the struggles of Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed households, known as ALICE.

First the good news: fewer Hawaii households are living in poverty — down to 12% versus 14% in 2022. ALICE households remained the same at 29%.

Advocates attribute the slight drop to government programs and increased minimum wages, but also more ALICE families are leaving the islands.

“180,000 people right now are considering leaving the state of Hawaii, from our workforce, from our younger families, our Hawaiian families, and that is something that we are deeply concerned about at Aloha United Way and of course, Bank of Hawaii and Hawaii Community Foundation.” said Suzanne Skjold, COO of Aloha United Way.

These working poor make too much to qualify for government aid and live paycheck to paycheck. Many are on the brink of financial crisis.

“This is absolutely critical, because affordability and just economic well being in our state is not where we need it to be,” said Peter Ho, Bank of Hawaii CEO.

So who is ALICE? They’re likely to be women or have children.

58% of native Hawaiians and 52% of Filipinos live under the ALICE threshold.

You’re more likely to be ALICE if you live on the neighbor islands. Maui is especially vulnerable, especially since the Lahaina fires.

“The people that are leaving hawaii are the people that can afford to leave their workforce and the people our engine. And if this continues, we’re going to have this hollow community where our engine is is just not there, right? And you’re gonna have very, very poor people, and we’re gonna have very, very wealthy,” said Micah Kane, President/CEO of Hawaii Community Foundation.

Advocates hope the report compels policymakers, businesses and community leaders to work together to reverse the trend.

“Employers will never be able to elevate wages and meet the cost of living requirements of this place,” Kane said. “Unless we come up with a host of very disruptive policies that drive down the cost of living, these people that are striking are going to leave.”

To fill gaps in services, Aloha United Way and other nonprofits are helping ALICE families access financial stability, affordable housing and higher paying jobs.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said he plans to lobby for ALICE-focused funding during this legislative session.

“We need to own this, all of us, and so from that standpoint this data becomes the argument you put on the table when you say we have to change,” Blangiardi said.

Some ways to ease the burden on ALICE families include tax credits, safety net programs, support for caregivers, mental health resources, debt reduction programs and financial incentives.

Read the full 2024 ALICE Report here.

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Related Topics:alice Bank of Hawaii Economy Featured inflation united way

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Hawaii

Cal Women’s Water Polo to Open NCAA Championships vs. Hawaii

Published

4 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Press Room

Cal Women’s Water Polo to Open NCAA Championships vs. Hawaii

The Cal women’s water polo team, fresh off its first victory over USC in 14 years, earned a berth in the NCAA Championships and will open play against No. 4 seed Hawaii on Friday, May 9 at Indianapolis.

Hawaii (21-4) own a 12-11 win over the Bears (19-5) at a tournament Irvine in February. The teams split two regular-season matchups a year ago before Cal beat the Rainbow Wahine 9-6 in the NCAA tournament to advance to the title game for the first time since 2011.

This is the Bears’ 11th appearance in the NCAAs, including four years in a row. Cal has missed playing in the NCAAs just three times since 2019.

They lost 7-4 to top-seeded UCLA in last year’s national championship game.

If Cal beats Hawaii it will advance to the semifinals on May 10 against the winner of a quarterfinal game between top-seeded Stanford (22-1) and either Wagner (21-8) or McKendree (21-7). The Cardinal beat the Bears 12-8 in their only meeting this season.

In the opposite bracket, UCLA (19-5) is seeded No. 2 and USC (27-4) is No. 3.

The championship game will be held on Sunday, May 11 at noon. The game will be aired on ESPNU.

Cal finished third at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament last weekend at UCLA. The Bears lost 15-14 to the Bruins in the semifinals before knocking off No. 2 seed USC 13-12 — their first victory in the series since 2011.

Center Feline Voordouw, a sophomore from the Netherlands, scored three goals in the win over the Trojans. Ruby Swadling, who leads the club with 55 goals, scored twice Sunday, as did Elena Flynn and Eszter Varro’.

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Hawaii

Coast Guard, HFD search for missing kayaker off Hawaii Island

Published

23 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Press Room

Coast Guard, HFD search for missing kayaker off Hawaii Island

KONA (HawaiiNewsNow) – A kayaker has gone missing near Keauhou Sunday.

Jared Willeford, 42, was last seen launching his kayak the area at around 8 a.m. at the Keauhou boat ramp wearing orange bib pants.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it was notified by the Hawaii County Fire Department dispatch about an unmanned yellow kayak 400-yards offshore at around 10 a.m.

Willeford’s family and HFD confirmed that his truck and trailer are still at the boat ramp.

The Coast Guard said it is working with the county’s fire department in the search, and has deployed a HC-130 Hercules and MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from USCG Air Station Barbers Point, alongside the USCG Cutter Oliver Berry.

The county fire department said they suspend their search efforts at sunset and resume at sunrise. Helicopter crews will continue to search through the night.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Coast Guard’s Honolulu Command Center at (808) 842-2600.

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Hawaii

Hawaii Career Expo to feature over 100 government, private employers | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Published

2 days ago

April 27, 2025

Press Room

STAR-ADVERTISER

Dylan Humphreys, left, filled out an application for RevoluSun while conferring with his aunt Jere Humphreys during the 2023 Hawaii Career Expo at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.

The Hawaii Career Expo scheduled for Wednesday at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall will feature many of the state’s top employers, including city and state government agencies looking to fill positions with displaced federal workers.

A free event, sponsored by the Honolulu Star- Advertiser, and presented by Star Events, the job fair is open to all job-seekers and allows talented candidates to meet hiring managers from a variety of companies, the military and government departments at more than 100 booths, organizers said.

With the recent downsizing in the U.S. government, this week’s Career Expo will also give former federal workers an opportunity to learn about dozens of Honolulu and state of Hawaii agencies that are in the market for skilled employees.

“The City & County of Honolulu are actively recruiting displaced federal employees and professionals from non-governmental organizations impacted by federal funding cuts. To streamline hiring, the City’s Department of Human Resources is implementing expedited recruitment measures,” Star Events Director Denise Ching said.

“In a similar initiative, the state is also prioritizing the recruitment of highly skilled professionals in several areas. These job categories include program specialists, information technology, finance, budget management, engineering, infrastructure development, human resources, accounting, social services and more. Hawaii government has approximately 4,000 vacancies, which accounts for about 24% of state positions,” she said.

The Career Expo is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. Attendees may present a printed copy of their resume at the front door for free admission. Preregistration is recommended at hawaiicareerexpo.com.