Article courtesy of Hawaii News Now
More than a third of Hawaii working families with limited assets reported last year that their kids “sometimes or often” didn’t have enough to eat, new figures show.
Aloha United Way released the statistic as part of its ongoing effort to highlight the challenges so-called ALICE households face. The acronym stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
On Oahu, a couple with two kids would need a household income of more than $95,000 to fall above the ALICE threshold. That translates into an hourly wage of $22.98 for each adult.
The figures on food insecurity in ALICE families comes as aid for those most impacted by the pandemic begins to disappear ― or has already done so.
In its new release of figures, Aloha United Way notes even before the pandemic nearly 140,000 Hawaii kids lived below the ALICE threshold ― or the income required to cover the basics of housing, transportation, child care, health care and food.
They also point out that the federal poverty level and social safety net programs that rely on it fail to account for many of these children, allowing thousands to fall through the cracks.
For more on the Aloha United Way report, click here.
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