Report: 1/3 of Hawaii families don’t earn enough for needs
Nearly one-third of Hawaii families don’t meet self-sufficiency income levels, according to a state report.
A family of four needs to bring in nearly $78,000 on Oahu to be self-sufficient — or able to cover expenses without government or other outside help, Hawaii News Now reported Wednesday. That’s up from $74,940 in 2014 and is $22,000 more than what the same family would have needed a decade ago.
The report looked at the costs of housing, food, transportation, child care and taxes.
It found that families on the Big Island needed the lowest self-sufficiency income to make ends meet, while some of the highest incomes needed were seen on Kauai and Maui.
The biennial self-sufficiency study was aimed at gauging how the state’s cost of living affects families.
For a single adult, the self-sufficiency income in Hawaii was at nearly $33,000.
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A single parent with two children needs to bring in at least $69,000 in Hawaii to be self-sufficient.
For a family of four on Oahu, the report put the total cost of basic needs at $6,497 a month. That includes $1,787 for housing, $1,131 for child care and $1,260 for food.
