Lowest-paid among us deserve a raise

Many Hawaii workers celebrate Labor Day, a federal holiday since 1894, as the symbolic end of summer.

While often regarded as a day for barbecues, family trips and parades, Labor Day observes the strength, hard work and dedication of America’s workers.

Unfortunately, some of Hawaii’s hardest workers have not seen a raise for nearly seven years as Hawaii’s minimum wage has remained at $7.25 an hour.

In 2012, the poverty level for a family of two in Hawaii was $17,410, and for a family of three it was $21,960.

A full-time minimum wage worker in Hawaii who works 40 hours a week for 52 weeks would earn an abysmally low $15,080 a year.

For these families, even the most basic expenses such as food, gasoline and utilities are a real struggle, and owning or renting is nearly impossible.

In fact, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in no state can a minimum wage worker afford a two-bedroom unit at fair market rent, working a standard 40-hour work week, and in Hawaii, a minimum wage worker would need to work 175 hours a week, a task that is simply not attainable.

What is even more disconcerting is more than 17 percent or nearly 229,000 Hawaii residents live in poverty when calculating the cost of living and it is probably not surprising to know that Hawaii’s cost of living is the highest in the nation. Yet, even with that knowledge, Hawaii is still stuck at $7.25.

However, 19 states, all with a lower cost of living, have increased their minimum wages beyond $7.25 and many are discussing raising them again. Even municipalities such as San Francisco and Santa Fe have increased their minimum wages beyond $10 an hour.

Furthermore, contrary to popular opinion, the average worker affected by an increase in the minimum wage is not just a teenager. Only one in 14 is a teenage student from a family with above average earnings.

The fact is, almost two-thirds of minimum wage workers are adults, and 4 in 10 are the sole breadwinner of their family, and yet there is still a challenge to increase the minimum wage.

In addition, despite what many think, most tipped workers make well below $10 an hour and, according to the National Employment Law Project, waitresses and waiters — the largest group of tipped workers — have three times the poverty rate of the workforce as a whole.

Additionally, increasing the minimum wage would benefit all of us because every extra dollar earned is spent for groceries, rent, utilities, gasoline and other necessary essentials, and supports businesses, big and small. If the minimum wage were raised to $9.25, the purchasing power of 74,000 workers would infuse $54 million into the local economy.

The minimum wage is simply too low in Hawaii. Hawaii’s hard-working minimum wage workers not only deserve a raise, but desperately need a raise. No one should have to struggle to afford the most basic living expenses, and no one should worry if they will be able to afford rent.

Increasing the minimum wage to $9.25 or higher would be a step in the right direction.

So Monday, as we celebrate Labor Day, let us make a commitment that the lowest paid among us finally get a raise. In the Aloha State, we can do no less.