Hawaii’s highest-in-the-nation cost of living puts an incredible strain on working parents. The average cost of child care in Hawaii is $13,731 per year for an infant and $8,937 per year for a 4-year-old. Meanwhile, the median income for a full-time worker in Hawaii is $58,626 — not nearly enough for the average household with kids to comfortably pay its bills.

After factoring in the median rent for a family home of $2,900 per month ($34,800 per year), two full-time workers who are both earning Hawaii’s median income would still spend 41% of their combined income on childcare and housing alone — not to mention additional costs that come with transportation, health care and unexpected emergencies.

This crisis of affordability for working families is reflected in the data on child poverty. More than 36,500 children — 12.6% of all children in Hawaii — live beneath the poverty line. Thousands more are at risk of falling into poverty without government intervention.

Given Hawaii’s rising cost of living and the corresponding increase in child poverty, lawmakers should seize the opportunity this legislative session to establish a state-level Child Tax Credit (CTC) — or “Keiki Credit” —to provide necessary tax relief for low- to middle-income families with children.

At the moment, two companion bills are being considered by the Hawaii Legislature to create a keiki credit. House Bill 1662 and Senate Bill 2660 would give households earning less than $115,000 annually a tax refund of up to $650 per child under the age of 18.

This Valentine’s Day, lawmakers, advocates and working families are rallying in support of the keiki credit at the state Capitol from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Speakers will address the struggle of raising a family in Hawaii. Their voices remind us that behind the data and statistics are real people with real stories. A keiki credit would make a real impact on their lives.

Since 1997, the federal CTC has been a lifeline for working families. When the federal CTC was temporarily expanded in 2021, it lifted 2.9 million children across the U.S. out of poverty. This historic impact reinforced a lesson that has been proven time and time again: The cheapest, most effective way to solve poverty is to deliver money directly to those in need.

It’s a lesson national lawmakers have yet to fully grasp. With the end of the federal CTC expansion, child poverty rates have soared back up to their pre-pandemic levels. Recognizing this gap in assistance, 14 states have adopted their own CTCs to complement the federal CTC.

The CTC strikes at the root of the poverty issue by ensuring that parents have more money on hand to pay for food, housing, education and other basic needs. But the benefits of the CTC extend far beyond helping families with their immediate costs.

Research shows that children raised in financially stable households have better educational outcomes, improved health, and higher incomes later in life. In this way, the CTC prevents children from falling into poverty to begin with, and its benefits are felt across multiple generations.

The CTC even boosts economic activity and shared prosperity. For every $1 invested in a CTC, a local economy will see $1.25 in economic benefits.

Some 176,000 children in Hawaii would benefit from the proposed keiki credit, with most of the benefits going to those in lower-income families. This tax relief would bring Hawaii’s working families closer to the financial security they deserve. Let’s make 2024 the year we aloha our keiki. Let’s make Hawaii the 15th state to adopt a CTC.

Devin Thomas is senior policy analyst for taxes and budget at the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice.