A living wage will help Native Hawaiians
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.