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The minimum wage for the state of Hawaii is $12 an hour, as of Oct. 1. By 2028 it will be $18 an hour. This is, quite frankly, ridiculous.
In President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech, in which he announced the minimum wage being signed into federal law, he said that “no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.”
His intention with the minimum wage was always for it to be a living wage. A website created and run by economists at M.I.T. says that in 2022, a living wage for a single adult with no children working 40 hours a week is $21.99 an hour in the state of Hawaii.
It is ridiculous that by 2028 the minimum wage will be $4 less than the living wage of 2022. The wage must be increased.
Boston Gregory
Kalaheo, Kauai
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