As we bring our economy back to life after the pandemic, we should think about how to make Hawaii a better place to live.

First, we should admit our minimum wage isn’t adequate and increase it. Second, we should acknowledge that increased costs of goods and services resulting from pay hikes will impact costs for tourists. And that could be a good thing for Hawaii.

The agreement announced before opening day of the Legislature back in January would increase Hawaii’s current minimum wage of $10.10 to $13 by 2024. That’s still shy of the $15 minimum wage a number of states have pledged — or have already hit.

We already know that a single person needs $17 an hour to survive in Hawaii. Increase that to $19.33 hourly per person for two working adults with two children (from the biennial self-sufficiency standard study, published in December 2019 by Hawaii’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism). It is painfully obvious that families in Hawaii cannot survive on $10.10, nor can they survive on $13, the target to which the Legislature proposes we slowly creep.

Yes, an increase in the minimum wage will likely result in increased costs of goods and services; but it will also generate more spending, often in categories that are vital to survival like housing, health care and food.

Visitors to Hawaii will not be immune to such increases in the cost of goods and services, such as higher prices for accommodations, food and beverage, personal services and activities. However, have we not stated that we are desirous of higher yield per visitor as opposed to excessive volume that negatively impacts our environment and infrastructure? Not to mention the pristine and exclusive experience that Hawaii ought to be able to deliver?

In 2019, 10.4 million visitors brought in $17.75 billion in spending; yet in 1989 when Hawaii had just 6.5 million visitors, they brought in the equivalent of $18.3 billion in 2019 dollars (“Tourism timeout,” Star- Advertiser, April 26). We are going backwards with respect to yield.

Why should people not pay a premium price to experience the most beautiful and desirous place on the planet? Our fear of becoming an “expensive” destination compared to cheaper locales has led to 10 million tourists who are straining our resources to the max. This is a scenario that is in need of change; and we are at a crossroads when we have the opportunity to reflect and re-envision.

Might this “pause button” in our economy be an opportunity to raise the living standards of our critical workers and rethink our positioning in the market at the same time? Rather than examining the pieces of our economy separately, can we make changes by working with the whole cloth? Why not give this some thought as a formative idea as we re- invent post-pandemic Hawaii?

Ruth Limtiaco is the retired owner of a 30-year-old public relations firm.