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Executive Summary

VOLUME I CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The conclusions and recommendations of the Native Hawaiians Study Commission immediately follow t h is Executive Summary. They are not summarized here. PART I, SOCIOECONOMIC AND CULTURAL SECTION P a r t I of the F i n a l Report of the Native Hawaiians Study Commission p r e s e n t s information and s t a t i s t i c s on v a r i o u s socioeconomic and c u l t u r al f a c t o r s a f f e c t i n g the l i v e s of n a t i ve Hawaiians. The c o n t e n t s of each c h a p t e r are summarized below. "Demographics" This chapter p r e s e n t s a demographic p r o f i l e of n a t i v e Hawaiians in the following a r e a s. C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the Population After the the a r r i v a l of f o r e i g n e rs in Hawaii in 1778, the n a t i ve p o p u l a t i o n d r a s t i c a l l y d e c l i n e d . This t r e n d was reversed in the beginning of t h i s century when the part-Hawaiian p o p u l a t i o n began a r a p i d i n c r e a s e , a t r e n d t h a t continues today. This s e c t i o n a l s o summarizes the p r e s e n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the n a t i ve Hawaiian p o p u l a t i o n . According to the S t a t e of Hawaii, in 1980 t h e r e were 9,366 full-Hawaiians and 166,087 p a r t - Hawaiians, comprising about 19 p e r c e nt of the S t a t e ' s p o p u l a t i o n . Native Hawaiians are a young p o p u l a t i o n — in 1980, the median age for males was 22.0, and the median age for females was 23.2. The male/female r a t i o for n a t i v e Hawaiians is f a i r l y e q u a l - - in 1980 males accounted for 49.5 p e r c e nt of the n a t i v e Hawaiian p o p u l a t i o n , and females accounted for 50.5 p e r c e n t. Geographic D i s t r i b u t i on The m a j o r i t y of the n a t i v e Hawaiian p o p u l a t i o n (as well as the m a j o r i t y of t h e S t a t e ' s p o p u l a t i o n ) l i v e s on Oahu. There s t i l l e x i s t pockets of n a t i ve Hawaiians located in economicallyd e p r i v e d , r u r a l areas on many i s l a n d s. Education The percentage of native Hawaiian children between the ages of 14 and 17 who were enrolled in school in 1970 was lower than that for any other group in Hawaii (91.6 percent for females and 90.7 percent for males, compared to an overall State figure of 94.8 percent). The median number of years of school completed by native Hawaiians over 25 years of age in 1970 was 12.0, compared to a State median of 12.3. Only 49.7 percent of native Hawaiians over 25 had graduated from high school in 1970. In 1970, only 4.2 percent of native Hawaiians over 25 had completed four or more years of college, a figure lower than that for any of the other ethnic groups in Hawaii. State of Hawaii data for 1977 show little improvement: only 46.9 percent of native Hawaiians over 25 had graduated from high school. Figures for that same year also showed that only 4.6 percent of native Hawaiians over 25 had completed four or more years of college, a percentage still lower than that for any other ethnic group. A 1976 Alu Like, Inc., Needs Assessment Survey indicated, however, that education for their