The number of low-income households in Hawaii receiving state or federally funded cash benefits has swelled by 20 percent since 2007 in what advocates say is a stark reminder that the poor economy is far from over for those in greatest need.

Nearly 17,050 families now get some kind of cash subsidy, according to the latest figures from the state Department of Human Services.

That’s up from 14,265 in fiscal year 2007, and a 5 percent increase from last fiscal year alone, when there were 16,207 households on cash assistance rolls.

Ivette Stern, a junior specialist at the University of Hawaii’s Center on the Family, said while the economy is improving, many families continue to see job losses, cuts in wages or hours or find themselves falling into poverty because of medical bills or some other financial crisis.

Those who are turning to cash assistance now, she said, may have run out of unemployment benefits or run through any savings they had.

"A lot of what we’re seeing is what we call the lagging indicators, where the economy is getting better but now is when you’re seeing some of the punch of the downturn," she said. "The families that were on the edge are still struggling and will be struggling."

Advocates say the increase in the number of families receiving cash assistance is particularly alarming because to qualify for what is commonly referred to as welfare or similar programs, households must have very low or no income and have few assets.

Figures for welfare, which is reserved for the poorest of the poor, are often used as a gauge to whether deep poverty among families is growing and by how much.

Nationwide, welfare caseloads have risen with the economic downturn, but they are showing signs of leveling off.

A recent U.S. Census Bureau report showed 2.9 percent of the nation’s households were receiving welfare benefits in 2011, the same as the previous year.

By comparison, about 4.3 percent of Hawaii households got welfare in 2011, up from 3.3 percent the previous year.

Hawaii’s welfare participation rate is among the highest in the nation, the report said.

Pankaj Bhanot, administrator for the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division at the state Department of Human Services, said the increase in welfare recipients appears to be directly linked to poor economic conditions.

"It’s a bad economy," he said.

Before 2008, welfare participation in the islands was on a downward trend, in large part because of federal changes to the program that included strict work requirements and time limits for benefits.

To meet the higher demand for cash assistance in recent years, DHS has had to cut funding for poverty prevention and work incentive programs and decrease benefits to ensure that all needy families receive checks.

The bulk of families receive help through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which is federally funded. A similar state-funded program is reserved for non-U.S. citizens.

The average benefit for TANF families in October was $559 a month, and $355 a month for the state-funded Temporary Assistance for Other Needy Families program.

Couples or singles who are elderly or disabled get help through separate programs, and their average benefit hovered around $300 a month.

The overall increase in the number of households receiving cash assistance has been driven by participation in TANF and its state-funded equivalent.

A total of 10,214 Hawaii families receive benefits through the programs, up 23 percent, or by 1,900 households from 2008.

On average in fiscal year 2012, families stayed on welfare for about a year. The program is limited to five years over a lifetime.

To qualify for TANF, a family must have dependent children under 19 years old and its total gross income must be under 185 percent of the 2006 federal poverty level.

For a household of three, that means the monthly gross income must be less than $2,941. Additionally, if the household includes an employable adult, net income must be under 48 percent of the 2006 federal poverty level, or less than $610.

Household assets, not including a home or cars, must be less than $5,000.

While welfare numbers are up, they remain well below levels seen in the late 1990s, before passage of tougher eligibility rules.

DHS officials note the recent increases in welfare participation are not as large as those seen for other need-based government benefits, such as food stamps or Medicaid, largely because those programs are open to families with slightly higher incomes and greater assets.

Since 2008, the number of Hawaii households receiving food stamps has ballooned by 88 percent, to 92,114 in August, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program.

To qualify for food stamps, a family’s gross income can be up to 130 percent of the federal poverty level, or their net income can be up to 100 percent of federal poverty guidelines. For a family of three in Hawaii, that equates to $1,830 or less a month.

As more people turn to government programs, charities, too, continue to see high need for everything from food aid to rental assistance.

More than 1,700 households received help at the Salvation Army food pantry on North King Street in September — three times as many as the number seen in January, said Ipo Paia, Salvation Army family services program manager.

She said other requests, including for rental subsidies, help paying utilities, buying clothing or for housing, are also steady or increasing.

Many of the families needing help, she said, don’t qualify for cash assistance.

In October, Aloha United Way’s 211 information and referral hotline received 299 calls from individuals seeking help finding a food pantry, its most requested service that month. The month before, there were 224 calls for food pantries.

The second most-requested service in October was for rent payment assistance, with 203 calls.

Val Tavai, senior community service manager for the Honolulu Community Action Program’s Leeward Oahu district, said she is also seeing more requests for food and rental assistance.

The organization’s Leeward Oahu food distribution program is now serving 150 families monthly, triple the number it was helping early in the year.

Tavai said the families she sees are working, but often employment isn’t stable.

"They’re capable of finding jobs, but then they get laid off. It becomes a vicious cycle," she said, adding, "There are a lot of families coming to us who haven’t come to us before."