More Hawaii children are growing up in families struggling below the poverty line, which puts them at greater risk of dropping out of school and going on to earn lower incomes for the rest of their lives.

Fourteen percent of Hawaii children in 2009 were living in families that earned less than the $21,756 federal poverty level for a four-person household — up from 13 percent in 2000 — according to a report from the University of Hawaii Center on the Family released Tuesday evening.

In addition, 30 percent of Hawaii children in 2009 were in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment.

UH’s Center on the Family compiles information for the annual Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which advocates a better future for children from disadvantaged families.

"When kids grow up in poverty, they tend to have less favorable outcomes: They are at greater risk for not doing well in school, not finishing school, not going on to college, and therefore they may not have as bright a future as kids who are not in poverty," said Ivette Rodriguez Stern, the Hawaii Kids count director. "The younger they are and the longer they’re in poverty, the greater the risk they won’t make it out of poverty as adults."

Kids Count also found that:

» An estimated 25,000 Hawaii children — or 10 percent — lived in households in 2010 in which at least one parent seeking employment was unemployed.

» About 14,000 Hawaii children were affected by foreclosure since the 2007 economic downturn began.

"We have our fair share of families that have been impacted by the recession and are struggling financially," Stern said. "They’re the ones that are really, really in the margins."

Mildred Kalaluhi grew up in a low-income family in Los Angeles headed by a mother who did not graduate from high school. As a child, Kalaluhi was sent to her grandparents on Guam, where she began working at age 13 to help raise her two younger siblings and never completed high school herself.

Today, Kalaluhi is trying to earn her high school equivalency degree at age 33 while struggling as a single mother to raise her own four children — ages 13, 11, 4 and 1 — with a part-time cashier’s job at Home Depot, food stamps and welfare.

She makes $9,600 per year, well below the federal poverty line of $21,756 for a family of two adults and two children.

Kalaluhi and her children live along Keeaumoku Street in a two-bedroom apartment that has a monthly rent of $700 through a Catholic Charities housing program.

Every morning Kalaluhi says a quiet prayer that her 1997 Ford Explorer will "get me to work safely and keep running to let me pick up my kids."

"I pray that God watches over me," Kalaluhi said Tuesday. "I’ve been struggling, and I can see my kids having a hard time understanding why our situation is like this."

Kalaluhi’s older daughters would love iPhones, iPods and flat-screen television sets like their friends. But a special treat for the family is an infrequent dinner at McDonald’s — as long as the tab for Kalaluhi and her four children stays under $20.

"Last week we were at Kmart, and my 13-year-old wanted a touch-screen phone and was looking at one for $79.88," Kalaluhi said. "I said, ‘I just finished paying the rent, and I have $35 left in my checking account. I can’t afford that.’ It’s hard for them."

While few children living below the poverty line are likely to pursue advanced degrees, Kalaluhi’s 13-year-old is pushing herself to get A’s at her school, hoping to one day attend Punahou School en route to becoming a doctor specializing in neonatology. Her 11-year-old daughter wants to become a pediatrician.

"My 13-year-old daughter says, ‘I want to become a doctor because I want to live in a nice house and own my own car, a nice-looking car. I don’t want to live in this kind of situation when I grow up,’" Kalaluhi said.

Over the past year, Helping Hands Hawaii "has seen an increase in the number of families with children who are contacting our office for help with emergency financial assistance or other social services," said Scott Morishige, director of Helping Hands Hawaii’s human services division and fund development. "The families that we work with face multiple financial challenges and sometimes are forced to choose between paying for child care or educational costs for their child and rent.

"If a child arrives to school without new school supplies, they may be teased or bullied by other students and don’t start off the school year on an equal playing field."

The Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Community Stabilization Initiative tracks the Kids Count data and has given $2.8 million to support organizations helping Hawaii families with basic needs such as food stamps, rental assistance, foreclosure protection and tax credits, the foundation said Tuesday.

Grants through the Hawai’i Community Foundation also have helped more than 1,500 Hawaii families acquire food stamp benefits. Another 1,300 families received emergency housing funds, and nearly 4,000 people have gotten credit, debt or foreclosure counseling.

"Many children in our state are living in families that continue to face economic insecurity," Stern said. "As we look at the economic situation improving in Hawaii, we have to look at restoring services that were cut and supporting the most vulnerable families in Hawaii."