Struggling on the frontline of collapse: Why a living wage is climate justice

A minimum wage increase is not just an economic policy. It is also a climate justice imperative.

Raising the minimum wage directly addresses the structural inequity that places low-income and marginalized communities on the frontlines of climate harm. When families are already struggling to cover basic necessities, they have no capacity to prepare for—or recover from—the disasters that are becoming more frequent and more severe.

How Poverty and Climate Vulnerability Are Connected

On Oʻahu alone, a sea level rise of 3.2 feet is projected to displace over 13,300 residents and cause an estimated $12.9 billion in direct damage. Renters and lower-wage workers—who have the least savings to fall back on—will feel the brunt of that impact.

But climate vulnerability isn’t just about catastrophic events. It shows up in everyday life, too. Around 43 percent of Hawaiʻi households do not have air conditioning, a luxury made even more unaffordable by some of the highest electricity rates in the nation. The average household in Hawaiʻi now spends $3,132 a year on electricity—over one and half times the $1,899 spent by the average U.S. household.

A living wage—one that people can comfortably live on while still saving money—should be a cornerstone of climate resilience. A single adult working full time at Hawaiʻi's current $16 minimum wage earns about $33,280 a year. That’s well short of the $45,804 needed to cover survival-level housing, food, transportation, and health care (known as the “ALICE” threshold). Statewide, 44 percent of Hawaiʻi households fall below that threshold.

Unless families can cover their basic necessities, they have limited capacity to consider anything else. As one community organizer put it: “There is no way people can take on issues like the climate crisis when they are working three jobs instead of one.”

The Lahaina Fire: A Case Study in Vulnerability

The 2023 Lahaina wildfire is an example of what happens when disaster strikes a workforce that is already under stress. The fire affected more than 2,200 structures and caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage, displacing at least 13,000 people. Just over half of Lahaina’s residents at the time were renters—who then had to endure the sudden and simultaneous loss of both their housing and jobs.

Eighteen months later, nearly 90 percent of residents from the burn area were not in stable housing. Three years on, researchers found that while many had found housing, employment and incomes only saw minor improvements.

This is what climate injustice looks like. The people who form the backbone of Hawaiʻi’s economy—the workers who keep hotels running, restaurants open, and homes maintained—are the ones least able to recover when disaster strikes. Meanwhile, property owners and corporations are often better positioned to rebuild and even profit from the aftermath.

Economic Justice and Climate Justice Are One Fight

Resilience plans that prioritize property values over people will never truly protect communities. True resilience requires putting money directly into the pockets of those who need it most. A minimum wage increase is one of the most effective tools we have. Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage is scheduled to reach $18 an hour by January 1, 2028. While this is a concrete step forward, it is still not a living wage. Even at $18 an hour, a full-time worker would earn just $37,440 annually—still well below the ALICE threshold for a single adult.

Our legislature must continue to push until the minimum wage is truly a living wage. This action, along with real investments in making Hawaiʻi more affordable, can better prepare frontline communities to deal with the long-term consequences of climate change.

When workers have enough income to cover their basic needs, they can afford to prepare. They can invest in weatherization, buy supplies for emergencies, save for evacuation, and recover more quickly when disaster hits. They have the bandwidth to advocate for climate solutions in their communities and to hold decision-makers accountable.

Raising the minimum wage is not a substitute for broader climate policy, but it is a necessary pillar of support. Without economic security, climate resilience is a privilege reserved for the wealthy. That is not a future we should accept. The people most affected by the climate crisis must have the resources to prepare and adapt—requiring wages that allow them to thrive. Economic justice and climate justice are a unified fight, and it’s time we started treating them that way.