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Hawaii's Homelessness Ratio Third in Nation

Submitted by HPI on Tue, 09/20/2011 - 08:15

Kakaako homeless/HPI photo

Behind Oregon and Nevada

Hawaii cracks down on the homeless to hide the ugly truth during the APEC summit in November. Governor Abercrombie has told the people of the state not to feed the homeless.

A quick calculation shows that the reported number of homeless is 7.1 percent of Hawaii's population. Hawaii's official unemployment rate is 6.2 percent, quite low compared to the rates reported for other states. Just by factoring in the homeless, Hawaii's true unemployment rate is much worse than the rate reported by the government. Many people without a job are being left out of the statistics. Shadow Government Statistics reports that the nation's unemployment figures are being manipulated and that the true picture is much worse.

Despite its "aloha" reputation, Hawaii currently has the third-highest ratio of homelessness of any state in the nation, behind Oregon and Nevada. Since the number of Americans living below the poverty line rose above 15 per cent last week, the problem here, like elsewhere, seems likely to get worse before it gets better. In addition to the likes of Paracuelles, a recent study by the research firm SMS found that 96,648 Hawaiians are now members of the "hidden homeless" community, a demographic which contains people squatting, living in temporary accommodation, or staying with friends or family members. Another 262,000 people – a staggering one in five residents of the seven islands – are classed as being "at risk" of homelessness.

Read more . . . [The Independent] (U.K.)

Link:

Homelessness in Hawaii [HPI]