JEREMY HAY/Honolulu Civil Beat 据一项新研究称，夏威夷的贫困率低于全国平均水平，但夏威夷的贫困更多的是由住房成本驱动，而不是任何其他州加上华盛顿特区。
JEREMY HAY/Honolulu Civil Beat Hawaiʻi has a lower poverty rate than the national average but more poverty in Hawaiʻi is driven by housing costs than any other state in the nation plus Washington D.C., according to a new study .
该研究发现，截至三年前，夏威夷34%的贫困是由住房成本引起的。
The study found that as of three years ago, 34% of the state’s poverty was due to housing costs.
这意味着，根据美国人口普查局的美国社区调查，2023年约有150,000人生活在贫困线以下，其中超过三分之一的人之所以陷入贫困，是因为他们支付住房的费用过高。
That means that of the approximately 150,000 people who lived below the poverty threshold in 2023, according to the American Community Survey, more than a third landed there because of how much they pay for housing.
相比之下，加利福尼亚州拥有全国最高的贫困水平，但其中30%是由住房成本引起的。而对于由住房成本驱动的儿童贫困，夏威夷仅次于华盛顿特区，达到42%。"一旦考虑到夏威夷的住房成本如此之高，夏威夷的贫困率就会大幅上升，因为家庭需要更多的收入来满足基本生活需求，"皮尤慈善信托基金会住房政策倡议主任亚历克斯·霍顿斯说。
That compares to California, which has the country’s highest poverty level but where 30% of that is due to housing costs. And for child poverty driven by housing costs, Hawaiʻi was second only to D.C., at 42%. “Hawaiʻi’s poverty rate goes way up once you account for the fact that its housing costs are so high because more income is needed for a household just to meet its basic needs,” said Alex Horowitz, director of the housing policy initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts.
皮尤是一个非营利的公共政策研究机构，委托开展这项研究，以了解住房成本在哪些地区导致了最多的贫困。该研究的发现基于美国人口普查局的补充贫困度量标准，该标准考虑了收入（包括州和联邦福利）以及当地住房成本的差异，以确定一个人生存所需的费用。美国人口普查局的官方贫困度量标准仅考虑食品成本和人们在税前的收入。
Pew, a nonprofit public policy research organization, commissioned the study to find out where housing costs caused the biggest share of poverty. The study based its findings on the U.S. Census Bureau’s supplemental poverty measure , which factors in income, including state and federal benefits, as well as variations in local housing costs to determine how much someone needs to survive. The Census Bureau’s official poverty measure only factors in food costs and how much people earn before taxes.
由牛津大学教授扎克·帕罗林主导的这项研究及其皮尤的分析，提出了一种解决住房成本驱动贫困问题的方法：通过分区和建筑规范以及许可程序，使建造更多住房变得更加容易。这将增加住房供应并对租金施加下行压力。
The study, by University of Oxford professor Zach Parolin — and Pew’s analysis of it — proposed a way to address the problem of housing cost-driven poverty: Make it easier through zoning and building codes and the permitting process to build more housing. That would increase housing supply and put downward pressure on rents.
将租金降低20%将使夏威夷的总贫困率下降四分之一，儿童贫困率下降略超过三分之一，彭研究所的分析称。
Lowering rents by 20% would cut Hawaiʻi’s overall poverty rate by a quarter and its childhood poverty rate by just over a third, the Pew analysis said.
霍罗维茨表示，这种方法不同于食品券和儿童税收抵扣等抗贫计划，这些计划用于增加收入，此外，它更具成本效益。
That approach differs from anti-poverty programs such as food stamps and child tax credits which are used to bolster incomes, Horowitz said, and it would be more cost effective.
“这并不是说收入补贴不重要；它们显然对减少贫困非常重要，”他说。“但这项分析正是为了引起人们对账本支出方面的关注，因为我们可以免费降低人们的住房成本。”如果租金降低20%，约有39,000名居民将摆脱贫困状态，他们的住房支出将随之下降，彭研究所的分析称。
“The point of this is not that income supports aren’t important; they are clearly important for reducing poverty,” he said. “But this analysis is drawing attention to the expense side of the balance sheet because we can lower people’s housing costs for free.”If rents were lowered 20%, about 39,000 residents would be lifted out of poverty as their housing expenses dropped, the Pew analysis said.
该研究指出，2023年平均租赁两居室单位的租金为2,050美元。根据2026年夏威夷住房事实簿的数据，夏威夷57%的租户支付超过30%的收入作为租金。略超过四分之一的租户支付超过一半的收入用于住房。
The average rent for a two-bedroom unit in 2023 was $2,050, the study notes. According to the 2026 Hawaiʻi Housing Factbook , 57% of renters in Hawaii pay more than 30% of their income in rent. Slightly more than a quarter of renters pay more than half their income toward housing.
美国住房和城市发展部将住房费用在收入30%或以下的定义为负担得起的住房。那些支付超过这一比例的人被联邦政府归类为“租金负担过重”的人和家庭。
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines housing as affordable if it consumes 30% or less of income. Those who pay more than that are categorized by the federal government as “rent-burdened” people and families.
彭研究所的分析指出，包括奥斯汀、休斯顿和明尼阿波利斯在内的多座城市采取了政策变革，推动了更多住房建设，特别是多户建筑的建设。这项分析称，这些措施使这些城市以及做出类似调整的其他城市的租户受益，因为他们在住房上的支出减少，平均每年节省超过4,000美元。
The Pew analysis pointed to policy changes in cities including Austin, Houston and Minneapolis that led to more housing construction, especially of multifamily buildings. That, the analysis said, has benefited renters in those and other cities that have made similar adjustments, because they spend less on housing, saving more than $4,000 annually on average.
其中一些变革包括取消大多数住房开发项目最低停车位要求，允许在以前仅限于单户住宅的地块上建造多户建筑，并简化某些项目的许可审批流程。
Some of those changes included eliminating most requirements for minimum amounts of parking at housing developments, allowing multi-unit buildings on lots previously zoned for single-family homes and streamlining permit approvals for certain types of projects.
霍维茨表示，一系列城市的做法说明“州和地方政府对房屋成本有着很大的控制权”，这使得解决由房屋成本驱动的贫困问题变得更加容易。
The example set by those cities illustrates that “state and local governments have a lot of control over housing costs,” Horowitz said, which makes it easier to tackle poverty driven by the cost of housing.
霍维茨指出，夏威夷近期为应对住房危机所采取的措施只取得了微小的进展，他提到了2024年的法律，这些法律允许在独户住宅占用的住宅用地上建立附属住宅单元，并要求各县制定将空置办公空间改装为公寓的规则。
Recent efforts in Hawaiʻi to address the housing crisis have made only small dents, Horowitz said, highlighting 2024 laws that allowed accessory dwelling units on residential lots occupied by single-family homes and required counties to implement rules to convert empty office space into apartments.
霍维茨说：“还需要采取更多措施才能从中走出来，因为解决分区问题是有帮助的，但还有建造许可和建筑规范这些障碍。”他还表示：“此外，夏威夷在分区方面迄今为止所采取的措施只是部分措施，并没有完全到位。”这篇报道最初由半岛民间媒体（Honolulu Civil Beat）发布，并通过与美联社的合作进行分发。
“More steps will be needed to dig out of it, because addressing zoning is helpful, but there’s still permitting and building codes as well” that act as barriers , Horowitz said. “Also, the steps that Hawai‘i has taken so far in zoning are partial steps. They’re not all the way there.”This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.