Wages & Labor
If you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to afford a decent life and a roof over your head.
Pay and protections that match the cost of living here.
More than half of Hawaiʻi’s households live paycheck to paycheckPaycheck to paycheck — little or no savings to absorb an unexpected expense; one financial shock away from crisis.; one financial hardship away from slipping into poverty. But the cost of living keeps rising and the gaps our safety net is meant to close keep widening.
If you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to afford a decent life and a roof over your head. That is not a radical idea. It is the bare minimum.
Our wages and labor work sits at the foundation of economic justice. Without fair pay and basic protections, you cannot afford housing, food, transportation, or health care. Everything else depends on it. Hawaiʻi’s 2022 minimum-wage increase — which will reach $18 by 2028 — will deliver $1 billion in additional wages annually to over 200,000 workers. But the cost of living keeps rising, and the gaps stronger safety nets are meant to close are widening.
Lift the wage floor with cost of living.
Hawaiʻi’s $18 minimum wage by 2028 is a major step forward. But costs keep rising. Lock in cost-of-living adjustments now so the floor doesn’t fall behind again the moment the 2022 law sunsets.
Workers shouldn’t choose between a paycheck and care.
A statewide paid family and medical leave program means workers can care for a newborn, a sick parent, or their own illness without losing income or risking their job. Good for workers. Good for businesses. Long overdue.
Close the 40-year wage-cost gap.
For four decades, costs have outpaced wages for most workers. Sustained wage growth paired with strong safety-net programs is the only way to keep one financial shock from pushing families into poverty.
More than
50% of households live paycheck to paycheck.
The squeeze touches every working family
Low-wage workers feel the pinch most acutely, but it’s spread across the workforce: caregivers without paid leave, parents priced out by child-care costs, and young people leaving the islands because the math no longer works.
Low-wage workers
200K+ workers
More than 200,000 Hawaiʻi workers benefit from the 2022 minimum-wage law — but housing & basics keep outpacing the floor.
$18/hr floor by 2028Working parents
44% of low-wage pay
The average preschool tuition in Honolulu takes up 44% of a low-wage worker’s full-time earnings — the biggest expense after rent.
Child care is unaffordableCaregivers
No statewide leave
Hawaiʻi has no statewide paid family or medical leave program. Workers must choose between a paycheck and caring for a newborn or sick parent.
13 states already do itYoung people leaving
66% of 18–34
Two-thirds of young adults have considered leaving Hawaiʻi or have a household member who already left — chasing affordability and opportunity elsewhere.
The brain drain acceleratesLift, protect, sustain
Two explicit legislative priorities — a continuing wage-floor increase and a statewide paid-leave program — backed by a sustained push to close the 40-year gap between wages and the cost of living.
Lift
Hawaiʻi’s current minimum-wage law reaches its final scheduled increase to $18/hour in 2028. Without new legislation, the floor flatlines while the cost of living keeps climbing. Lock in cost-of-living adjustments now so the next 40 years don’t repeat the last 40.
- Raise the minimum wage after 2028 Secure legislation ahead of time to ensure Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage continues to rise to account for cost-of-living increases — rather than waiting and having to fight the same fight all over again every few years.
“Every minimum-wage law I’ve seen in my career has done what it was designed to do — lift workers up, with no meaningful hit to employment.” — Hawaiʻi economist
Protect
Workers shouldn’t have to choose between caring for a newborn or a sick parent and keeping their job. A statewide paid leave program supports families, reduces turnover, and creates a more stable workforce. It is good for workers. It is good for businesses. And it is long overdue — 13 states have already enacted programs; Hawaiʻi has not.
- Establish statewide paid family & medical leave A program funded through small employer/employee contributions that lets workers take time off for childbirth, caregiving, or their own serious illness without losing income or risking their job. Wage replacement is partial and capped — designed to be self-sustaining at modest contribution rates.
“My mother needed care after surgery. Without paid leave, I had to choose between her recovery and my rent. No one should have to make that choice.” — Honolulu caregiver
Sustain
The wage floor and paid leave are essential but not sufficient. Closing Hawaiʻi’s 40-year wage-cost gap requires a sustained policy push — on child care, on cost-of-living protections for working families, and on the broader workforce supports that turn wage gains into lasting economic security.
- Child-care affordability Preschool in Honolulu costs ~44% of a low-wage worker’s full-time earnings — the biggest expense after rent. Expanded subsidies and workforce supports for early-childhood educators keep working parents in the workforce.
- Connect wages to the cost of basics Defend and expand programs that translate wage gains into stability — the state EITC, child tax credits, and the broader tax-and-budget work that prevents one financial shock from sliding a family into poverty.
- Direct cash for new families Guaranteed, no-strings income for mothers through their baby’s first year — proven in Michigan to cut evictions, food insecurity, and maternal depression. Explore the RxKids Hawaiʻi proposal →
“Hawaiʻi’s seeming prosperity has been built on an economic model that failed too many working families. We can build a different one.” — Hawaiʻi Appleseed
Our Impact
A decade of wage and labor wins — from the 2014 minimum-wage increase, to the historic $18 wage hike, to today’s fight for statewide paid family and medical leave.
Won Hawaiʻi’s first minimum-wage increase in 7 years
After the federal minimum had been frozen at $7.25 since 2009, helped pass a state minimum-wage increase that raised the floor to $10.10/hour by 2018 — the first step in a decade-long push to align Hawaiʻi’s wage floor with its cost of living.
Defended workers through the pandemic shock
When more than 200,000 people suddenly lost their jobs and Hawaiʻi unemployment ranked among the worst in the nation, advocated for unemployment expansions, emergency rental assistance, and the safety-net response that kept families afloat — and surfaced the depth of the underlying economic insecurity.
Helped pass the historic $18 minimum wage
Raised Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage from $10.10 to $18/hour over six years — delivering $1 billion in additional wages annually to more than 200,000 low-wage workers. The largest single boost to take-home pay for working families in Hawaiʻi’s history.
Fighting for paid leave & the next wage increase
Leading the campaign to establish a statewide paid family and medical leave program, so workers don’t have to choose between caregiving and a paycheck. Also pushing for legislation to continue raising the minimum wage past 2028, so the floor keeps pace with the cost of living instead of flatlining once the current law expires.
Research & News
Reports from our Wages & Labor team, plus news coverage and analysis from around Hawaiʻi.
Build an economy that works for working families.
If you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to afford a decent life. Sign up for email alerts on wage and paid-leave bills moving at the Capitol, read our latest research, or reach out to your legislator — every voice helps shape a more equitable economy.