Nearly every family in Hawaiʻi has had some version of the same conversation.

A son or daughter wonders whether they can afford to stay. A parent worries that retirement may cost more than they planned. A grandparent hopes to remain in the community they have called home for decades.

Somewhere in that conversation is a simple but powerful question:

Can we build our future here?

Ideas showcases stories, opinion and analysis about Hawaiʻi, from the state’s sharpest thinkers, to stretch our collective thinking about a problem or an issue. Email news@civilbeat.org to submit an idea or an essay.

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New Pew Foundation research on housing and poverty highlighted by Civil Beat helps explain why that question is becoming harder for so many residents to answer. The Pew study found that housing costs contribute more to poverty in Hawaiʻi than in any other state.

But the biggest takeaway is not the statistic. It is what housing costs are doing to the lives of Hawaiʻi families.

For years, housing has largely been discussed as an affordability issue. We talk about supply, permits, regulations, construction costs and interest rates. Those conversations matter.

But housing is also deeply personal.

At AARP Hawaiʻi, we often talk about helping people age in place. Most people want the opportunity to remain in the homes, neighborhoods and communities they love as they grow older. They want to stay connected to family, friends, culture and community.

What is often overlooked is that aging in place does not begin at age 65.

It begins when a young family decides whether they can afford to remain in Hawaiʻi. It begins when working adults try to balance housing costs, caregiving responsibilities and retirement savings. It begins when people decide whether they can build a future here or whether they must leave in search of opportunity somewhere else.

That is why housing affordability is not simply a housing issue.

It is a family issue.

It is a caregiving issue.

It is a workforce issue.

And increasingly, it is an aging-in-place issue.

A housing needs analysis by AARP Hawaiʻi found that housing affordability is contributing to the out-migration of younger residents while the state’s population continues to age. The report projects a need for nearly 60,000 additional housing units by 2050 and concludes that affordable, accessible housing will be essential if older adults are to remain rooted in their communities while Hawaiʻi retains the workforce and family support systems those communities depend upon.

When housing costs force residents to leave, the impact extends far beyond individual households. Families become separated. Caregiving networks become more fragile. Communities lose workers, volunteers and future leaders. Older adults may find themselves farther from the people they depend on and who depend on them.

The Pew findings reinforce something many Hawaiʻi residents already know from experience: housing affordability affects far more than a monthly budget. It affects financial security, retirement readiness, caregiving, community stability and whether people can envision a future for themselves and their families in Hawaiʻi.

The good news is that this challenge is not beyond our ability to address. But it requires us to think about this more than as housing alone.

We need policies and investments that expand housing opportunities for residents of all ages and incomes. We need communities that support family caregiving and allow older adults to remain connected to the people they love. And we need to recognize that housing affordability is not separate from our goals for economic security, public health and community resilience.

If we want Hawaiʻi residents to age in place, we must also make it possible for Hawaiʻi families to remain in Hawaiʻi.

Because in the end, this conversation is not really about housing.

It is about whether the people who call Hawaiʻi home can continue to do so.