How many keiki are living in poverty in Maui County? Data about children on new website

In Maui County, there are more than 9,500 children under age 5 and every 1 in 10 students is learning English as a second language.

These are just a few of the insights from the new Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT Data Dashboard, an interactive website that publishes statewide and county-level data on the well-being of Hawaiʻi’s children.

The website is a partnership between Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center on the Family.

“This project gives the public and decision-makers a clearer picture of how keiki are faring across the state,” said Deborah Zysman, executive director of Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network. “We hope this data dashboard will spark conversations and inspire solutions to ensure all children and families in Hawaiʻi can thrive.”

The Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT Data Dashboard provides high quality data on 19 metrics, with a chart showing how the facts have changed over time.

For example, in 2020, children living in poverty (aged 0 to 17) in Maui County was 10.6%, which was trending down from the 17.7% in 2011, but slightly above the 2020 statewide data of 10.4%.

“The dashboard allows users to see how counties are doing on various aspects of child well-being compared to the state, which may be helpful in assessing areas that are doing well and where improvements are needed,” said Ivette Rodriguez Stern, junior specialist at UH Center on the Family.

The dashboard compiles data from various state and national sources, and when those sources are updated, the Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network and the UH Center on the Family plan to update the dashboard to reflect the latest information. They invite the public’s suggestions for additional data to track.

Hawaiʻi KIDS COUNT is part of the national KIDS COUNT network, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. More state and county-level data is available at the national KIDS COUNT Data Dashboard.