As bill to raise minimum wage to $18 moves forward, some say hike could hurt businesses

“So there’s never going to be a convenient time to increase the minimum wage for everybody,” said Gavin Thornton, executive director of Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice. “Let’s do it, now is the time.”

A recent state report found that to currently afford paying for the basics like housing, food and transportation, you must make an hourly wage of about $18.63.

“There are 20 other states that have higher minimum wages than we do,” Thornton said. “Missouri’s minimum wage was increased this year to $11.15. Missouri has a cost of living, that’s roughly half of ours so, you know, as a state, we’re really far behind where other folks are at.”

According to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a minimum wage worker in Hawaiʻi would have to work 114 hours just to afford an apartment.