It is pretty obvious to anyone who does not willfully choose to be blind that too many ordinary rank and file workers in Hawaiʻi are struggling to keep their heads above water.
I fully support the call for a living wage for our friends, family members and neighbors who simply cannot get by on a full-time job at $10.10 an hour—our current minimum wage. But as a trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, I feel a particular obligation to speak for the nearly 5,000 Native Hawaiians who currently make up over 14 percent of our state’s minimum, or close-to-minimum wage workers.
I see their struggle. More than 50 percent of Native Hawaiians are burdened by having to direct a third or more of their income just to rent. A 2016 statewide poll revealed that above 70 percent of Native Hawaiians live paycheck to paycheck. A third say they struggle to pay for food. This cannot continue.