What income category are you in?

The Wai'anae Coast is often considered a high poverty area. The terms poverty and low-income are often attached to the residents along the coast. What actually constitutes poverty? How little do you have to make in order to be considered low-income?

Hopefully this will help others understand the different income categories. To know if you qualify or do not qualify for different services, it is important to know what income category you and your family are in.

Below is the current 2013 Federal Poverty Guidelines for Hawaii
(As of January 24, 2013):

Add $4,620 for each additional person

In Hawaii, the average person per household is 2.93. We will round up and look at the family size of 3 to illustrate an example.

Extreme Poverty is defined as 50% of the Poverty Level. Therefore, from the chart above a family of 3 would have to make $11,235 per year to be considered in extreme poverty. This translates to a family that receives $936.25 per month before taxes.

Poverty is defined at 100% of the Poverty Level. Therefore, from the chart above a family of 3 would have to make $22,470 per year to be considered in poverty. This translates to a family that makes $1872.50 per month before taxes.

Low-Income is defined at 200% of the Poverty Level. Therefore, from the chart above a family of 3 would have to make $44,490 per year to be considered in poverty. This translates to a family that makes $3745 per month before taxes.

To put things in to perspective, according to current Census information, the median household income for the State of Hawaii is $67,116.00

So where does your family fall in all of this?

1. Calculate your annual income before taxes
2. Compare your income amounts to that of the chart above

Please keep in mind that these are income levels categorized by the Federal Government. These guidelines will determine eligibilty for services such as WIC, SNAP (foodstamps), TANF (welfare), MedQuest, etc.

Although, my purpose of sharing Financial Literacy is to help families rise out of poverty. However, there are times where accessing services will allow you to use your other income to pay off debt, save for a home and through time be able to rise out of poverty. These families will then no longer qualify for these services and benefits, however my hope is to equip families with the knowledge and skills to be able to sustain themselves without those services.

For help calculating your Family's Income please feel free to email me at saydeepojas@gmail.com.