About 12,000 low-income households across Hawaiʻi, including Maui wildfire survivors, rely on Housing Choice Vouchers, commonly known as Section 8, to help pay rent, according to a recent study by the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization. But now the program is undergoing increasing financial strain as rising rents make it much more expensive to help local families.

UHERO reports that federal spending on Hawaiʻi’s tenant-based vouchers more than tripled from about $55 million in 2003 to approximately $170 million in 2024. This represents a 70% increase even after accounting for inflation. However, the number of families receiving assistance has grown only modestly, according to UH economists, who say the reason is dramatically higher rents.

Voucher households generally pay about 30% of their adjusted income toward rent and utilities, with the government covering much of the remaining cost. But as rents rise while many participants’ incomes remain relatively flat, taxpayers must cover a growing share of the cost just to maintain assistance for roughly the same number of families.

The stakes extend beyond the families currently receiving help, according to UHERO. Only about one in five income-eligible households in Hawaiʻi receives a voucher, leaving thousands of others waiting for assistance that may not become available for years.

“As rents rise, more federal funding is needed just to maintain the program, making it harder to expand assistance to the thousands of Hawaiʻi families still waiting for help,” said lead author JoonYup Park, an assistant professor at UHERO and Department of Urban and Regional Planning, who holds the Hawaiʻi Community Reinvestment Corporation Professorship in Affordable Housing.

The program is also becoming an increasingly important pathway out of homelessness. About one in five households newly admitted to the program was experiencing homelessness, compared with roughly one in 20 in the mid-2000s.

In addition, receiving a voucher does not automatically mean a family has housing. Households generally have 60 to 120 days to find a rental that meets program requirements and has a landlord willing to accept the voucher. If they cannot, they can lose the voucher and return to the bottom of the waiting list.

The report points to housing construction as one possible solution. More apartments and other housing can help slow rent increases and create more affordable options for voucher holders, reducing the amount of government assistance needed for each household. Helping families increase their incomes could also reduce reliance on subsidies and eventually free vouchers for others waiting for help.

“This research shows that Hawaiʻi’s housing affordability challenge cannot be solved by rental assistance alone,” Park said. “We need to think about how housing policy, economic opportunity and the structure of public benefits can work together to give more families a realistic path toward long-term housing stability.”