Raise Up Hawaiʻi comments on deferment of minimum wage increase

The Hawai‘i legislature recently deferred its decision to raise the minimum wage.

In a press release, the Raise Up Hawaiʻi coalition said it is “deeply disappointed” that the legislature failed to increase the minimum wage this year.

“Local families are often forced to work two or three jobs to survive because of our state’s exorbitant cost of living, effectively the highest in the nation. Not enacting a living wage this year only increases the urgency of doing so next year.

“Hawaiʻi’s most economically vulnerable workers and their families, including thousands of children, will continue to suffer from the lack of a minimum wage that meets the state’s own self-sufficiency standard of $17 an hour—$10.10 an hour does not allow our families to meet basic needs, as evidenced by the suffering on the streets.”