02-11-2008, 01:53 PM
Actually, the article doesn't say exactly who the "exodus" is comprised of. We do have a fairly large percentage of folks who move to "Paradise" to find out it just ain't so and then move back to the mainland within a couple years. When times get tight, a lot of them who would be moving back eventually just speed up their exit.
A lot of the kids here, when they go off island to look for work they go as far as Oahu but not off to the mainland. If you have family or any other sort of hui then getting by is much more manageable so those probably aren't a large percentage of the exodus.
I also suspect our unemployment rates are considerably lower than the mainland because a lot of folks go to the mainland to fill out the unemployment papers. They can't afford to live here, get laid off, go to the mainland while they still have enough money (the return of the deposit on their apartment comes to mind) and then file for unemployment from there which would artificially keep our unemployment figures low.
A lot of the kids here, when they go off island to look for work they go as far as Oahu but not off to the mainland. If you have family or any other sort of hui then getting by is much more manageable so those probably aren't a large percentage of the exodus.
I also suspect our unemployment rates are considerably lower than the mainland because a lot of folks go to the mainland to fill out the unemployment papers. They can't afford to live here, get laid off, go to the mainland while they still have enough money (the return of the deposit on their apartment comes to mind) and then file for unemployment from there which would artificially keep our unemployment figures low.
Kurt Wilson