Advocates hope lawmakers pass minimum wage bill on Friday

It'd be a gradual increase. It would first go to $12 an hour this October, then $15 an hour in 2024. An $18 minimum wage would be $16,000 more in annual earnings for minimum wage workers.

Advocates say this would provide significant economic relief for tens of thousands of working families struggling to make ends meet.

“A single person with no children who's already getting health insurance from their work, needs $19 an hour just to be self-sufficient right now in 2022,” said Nicole Woo, Director of Research and Economic Policy at Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network

Nonprofit Raise Up Hawaiʻi estimates over 88,000 workers currently earn minimum wage.