The American Dream has always meant that if you work hard, you will be able to have a decent standard of living. In Kansas, we promote a strong work ethic and we value the ideals presented by the American Dream.

Kansas’ state minimum wage is $2.65 per hour. Kansas has the lowest minimum wage in the country. federal rate.

The Kansas Department of Labor says that in 2006 17,000 Kansans were making less than $5.85 an hour.

Our state minimum wage is set so low it allows employers to legally pay a rate that keeps people in extreme poverty.* For a single mother to earn wages that just meet the federal poverty guideline for herself and two children ($17,170) at the state minimum wage, she would have to work almost 18 hours per day, every day of the year!

When workers are not able to support themselves and their families due to low wage rates, taxpayers pay the price in food stamps, child care fees, child and adult health care, housing subsidies, and transportation assistance