Long-standing economic hardships have prevented a sizable segment of the South Dakota population from achieving financial stability and prosperity, and those hurdles have resulted in a sense of pessimism for what awaits future generations, according to two experts who study the state economy. State and federal data routinely show that: South Dakota employers pay some of the lowest wages in the nation. A high number of families pay an excessive portion of their income on housing. The state has a regressive system of taxation. Many workers are not seeing their pay cover the rising cost of living in the state.