Missouri minimum wage workers to see pay increase this year

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Hundreds of thousands of Missouri workers will now see an increase on their paychecks this year.

“This raise has been a long time in the making,” said Crystal Mahaney, Communications Director of Missouri Jobs with Justice.

Missouri minimum wage workers will now see an 85 cent increase, from $11.15 an hour to $12 an hour.

The wage increase is based on a ballot initiative from back in 2018. It was called Proposition B and it passed overwhelmingly across the Show Me State. Proposition B slowly raised the state minimum wage year after year, until it reached $12 an hour.

The new state minimum wage creates an even larger gap with neighboring Kansas. Their state minimum wage is the same as the federal minimum wage at $7.25.

People and groups have been trying to increase the federal wage for years with no success.

While Missouri’s minimum wage advocates are excited about their increase, they are concerned about the impact Kansas’ minimum wage will have on Kansans -- especially children.

“There was recently a study and an analysis that showed, of the states that have the highest childhood poverty, they are in states that still were at the federal minimum wage of only $7.25,” Mahaney said. “So, we know what impact that has both now and in the future for an entire generation.”

Right now, there isn’t a plan to change the Kansas wage.

Even though Missouri is at $12, officials said they will continue to fight to increase the minimum wage even more.

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