Federal government spending on Section 8 housing vouchers in Hawai’i has surged over the past two decades due to higher rents, according to a new study released Wednesday.
The outlays amounted to $170 million in 2024, or 70% more than in 2003, when adjusted for inflation, the report from the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization said.
The number of households receiving the subsidy, however, has risen only by one-fifth.
Those with a Section 8 voucher pay about 30% of their income toward rent and utilities, while the federal government pays the rest.
The vouchers reduce rent costs for many vulnerable families in the islands, said JoonYup Park, the study’s author and an assistant professor at the University of Hawaiʻi.
Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and mixed race populations receive vouchers at high rates and the program provides a safety net for disabled households and those with older adults and children, Park said.
“It's all doing its intended job,” Park said.
But the program has gotten more expensive over time as housing prices have gone up. The extra money is mostly spent to house existing tenants and not to expand coverage, Park said.
“The leases that voucher households take are becoming more and more expensive over time. Market rates go up — government just has had to pay a lot more,” Park said.
Only about one in five Hawaiʻi households that are eligible for the vouchers receive them, he said. The program has a long waiting list.
The population using the vouchers is aging and is poorer than 20 years ago. He said it’s becoming more difficult for this demographic to exit the program, which is slowing turnover.
Increasing the supply of housing would help moderate rent growth, while job training and education could lift incomes, help people leave the program and open space for others on the waitlist, Park said.
