Economic Inequality

Housing Shortage Driving Poverty In Hawaiʻi More Than Anywhere Ludwig Laab/Civil Beat/2022

Housing Shortage Driving Poverty In Hawaiʻi More Than Anywhere

A new study says lowering rents could substantially cut poverty in the Aloha State.

Judges’ Crackdown On Virtual Hearings Adds Hurdles For Immigrants In Court Craig Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

Judges’ Crackdown On Virtual Hearings Adds Hurdles For Immigrants In Court

Hawaiʻi-based immigration judges have ordered attorneys and their clients from as far as Texas and Alaska to travel to appear in person in Honolulu’s court.

What Happens To Your Affordable Housing When Income Rules Run Out? Jeremy Hay

What Happens To Your Affordable Housing When Income Rules Run Out?

Seniors at a state-owned affordable housing complex in Kakaʻako are scared about rising rents as the development authority seeks to recoup losses at the financially troubled project.

Major Landlord Accused Of Discriminating Against Section 8 Renters In Hawaiʻi Jeremy Hay/Civil Beat/2026

Major Landlord Accused Of Discriminating Against Section 8 Renters In Hawaiʻi

Testers sent by a nonprofit were told by agents for Greystar, the largest owner of apartment complexes in the United States, that their vouchers would not work.

Federal Government Abruptly Cut These Hawaiʻi Markets From Food Stamps Program (Screenshot/2023)

Federal Government Abruptly Cut These Hawaiʻi Markets From Food Stamps Program

USDA moves leave customers who use SNAP with less access to food, and mean that stores can’t buy as much product from the local farmers who supply them.

Nonprofits Face New Political Realities, Threats To Homeless Housing Programs Leilani Combs/Civil Beat/2026

Nonprofits Face New Political Realities, Threats To Homeless Housing Programs

Programs the federal government has long supported to combat homelessness have fallen out favor.

In Puna, It Takes Years To Get A Mail Box At The Post Office Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

In Puna, It Takes Years To Get A Mail Box At The Post Office

In the fastest growing part of Hawai‘i, a post office box shortage has made voting, shopping online, accessing important paperwork and sending packages an ongoing challenge.

Honolulu Homeless Services Program Too Disorganized To Assess, Auditor Says Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2024

Honolulu Homeless Services Program Too Disorganized To Assess, Auditor Says

The CORE program was started in 2021 and has changed its focus repeatedly since then, confounding efforts to gauge its effectiveness.

Transportation Barriers Block The Route To Opportunities For Many On Oʻahu, Study Finds Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2023

Transportation Barriers Block The Route To Opportunities For Many On Oʻahu, Study Finds

On the same day a study was released calling for more accessible public transportation, fares for TheBus were hiked.

Charity Program for Housing Homeless People Broke Promises, Landlord Says Craig Fujii/Civil Beat/2026

Charity Program for Housing Homeless People Broke Promises, Landlord Says

Small landlord now has doubts about renting to tenants from housing assistance programs; tenant says his story is off base.