The first day of 2022 didn’t just ring in a new year; in Missouri, it also ushered in a new minimum wage of $11.15 an hour, up from $10.30 in 2021. The increase is the penultimate step in a multi-year plan to raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 by January of 2023.
But many workers have found that these wages simply aren’t enough to live on in the Kansas City area.
“Prices are rising every year and our pay rates are just not keeping up,” said Terrence Wise, a McDonald’s employee who organizes with Stand Up KC, a local advocacy group for retail and fast food workers.
Local organizers who work full-time in the fast food industry told The Star that $11.15 just isn’t enough to live on — particularly with a family to feed at home.
“Nowhere can you rent even a studio at $11.15 an hour. It’s impossible,” said Wise. “I don’t care what your status is in our city, you can not survive on $11.15 unless you’re working 3 or 4 jobs. It’s almost an insult to workers.”
Bill Thompson, a Burger King employee who organizes with Stand Up KC, said he has struggled to make house payments during the pandemic and had to use money from a family member’s life insurance to pay back property taxes. Wise described using government assistance to pay for food, despite working 40 hours a week.
“I don’t like going to the grocery store and pulling out my blue EBT card,” Wise said. “We should be able to earn those earnings at work.”
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