Hawai‘i’s Working Families: What the ALICE Data Reveals
Launched January 2025
Created by: Aloha United Way
Understanding Hawai‘i’s ALICE Families — And What It Means for Our Workforce Future
Aloha United Way’s 2024 ALICE Report offers a powerful and sobering look at the financial realities facing Hawai‘i’s working families. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — our neighbors who work one or more jobs, yet still struggle to afford basic needs.
What the report makes clear is this: Hawai‘i’s cost of living is outpacing the wages our workforce earns. Nearly half of all households remain below the ALICE Threshold, and younger adults — the very people we’re counting on to enter high-demand, future-ready careers — are among the most economically vulnerable.
When we pair the ALICE findings with HWFC’s From Crisis to Opportunity report, the message is undeniable:
If we want a resilient, locally rooted workforce, we must invest in livable-wage jobs, culturally grounded training pathways, and stronger wraparound supports for families.
This means expanding neighbor-island training options, aligning credentials to Hawai‘i-based jobs, supporting youth with real career navigation tools, and ensuring that job quality — not just job quantity — becomes a priority across sectors.
The AUW 2024 ALICE report is more than data. It’s a roadmap and a call to action.
It reminds us that Hawai‘i’s future depends on how well we support the workers who keep our communities thriving — and how we create opportunities that allow our people to live, grow, and stay home.
KEY INSIGHTS
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The 2024 ALICE report shows that 41% of Hawai‘i households live below the ALICE Threshold, meaning they cannot afford basic needs despite working. This includes families working full-time, often in essential roles that keep our islands running.
Why this matters for workforce development:
If nearly half of working families can’t cover foundational expenses (housing, food, transportation), then “workforce development” cannot just focus on training — it must address wages, job quality, and stability. Without this, we’ll continue to see burnout, turnover, and outmigration. -
ALICE households are disproportionately young. More than half of residents under 35 fall below the ALICE Threshold.
Why this matters for Hawai‘i:
These are the very residents entering high-demand sectors. When young people can’t meet basic needs — or see no path to a livable-wage future — they leave Hawai‘i or struggle in place. This compounds our workforce shortages in healthcare, construction, clean energy, education, and tech.
It underscores the need for stronger local training pathways, aligned with jobs that pay and allow youth to stay rooted here. -
Housing, transportation, food, and childcare costs continue to outpace wages. Over one-third of residents have considered leaving the state because they cannot afford to live here.
Workforce implications:
We can train workers all we want — but if wages don’t rise, or if housing remains unattainable, people will continue leaving. Hawai‘i cannot afford a future where its talent pipeline is shrinking faster than we can build it.
This is a call to make “good job creation” and livable wages core pillars of workforce strategy. -
Neighbour island communities, rural areas, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander households face the largest ALICE burdens.
What this means for training + economic mobility:
Workforce development must be place-based and culturally grounded.
If training opportunities are centralized in Honolulu or require expensive transportation, many ALICE families can’t participate.
We need:Apprenticeships closer to home
Sector training hubs on neighbor islands
Stipends, childcare, and wraparound supports
Programs designed with community partners (not just for them)
These are exactly the kinds of gaps that HWFC’s From Crisis to Opportunity report surfaces — and they align tightly with ALICE’s data.
