Skip to main content

Are Food Stamps in Your Future on the Olympic Peninsula? Local Economics & the Self-Employment Struggle in Rural Washington State

According to ToughNickel.com’s article, How to Get Food Stamps or SNAP Benefits When Self-Employed, there are six fields of self-employment that often require food stamps for economic survival:

1. Online Sellers / Flea Marketers

2. Writers

3. Affiliate / Commissioned Salespeople

4. Seasonal Workers / Lawn Care Professionals 

5. Agricultural Workers / Farm Stand Owners 

6.  Craftspeople / Artists

Basically, anyone who receives an IRS 1099 Form most often applies for food stamp benefits.

Learn about Benefits in Washington State here: 
washingtonconnection.org/home/ 

Learn about Benefits in another state here: 
fns.usda.gov/snap/apply 

According to the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services (DSHS) in 2017 Clallam County had a population of 74,240, of which 68% (50,573) received assistance of some kind from DSHS, of which 21% (15,417) received basic food program assistance (the second largest group after clients receiving medical eligibility assistance). 

According to the Clallam County Economic Development Corporation’s October 2017 county profile report, job growth in the non-farm sector of the county was ‘less than spectacular, averaging less than the state and national increases’ while government was the biggest non-farm employer with 7,730 jobs in August 2017.

That same month, the civilian labor force for Clallam County was 28,162, which is 38% of the county population 74,240.

The largest jobholder age group in the county since 2016 has been age 55-plus.

As well, the EDC’s county profile report states that the average annual wage in Clallam County in 2016 was $37,510, which was $21,563 below Washington State’s average annual wage of $59,073.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: According to ToughNickel.com’s article, the 2017 Federal Poverty Guidelines for a household of three was $20,420. That means that the difference alone ($21,563) between making a living in Clallam County or somewhere else in Washington State is great enough for a family of three to rank above poverty and not need food stamps to survive in Washington State. That is just how large the income gap is in Washington State between rural and urban areas.

But, does that mean anything when the difference between two average income levels in the same state is great enough to be an entire household's income for a family of three to live above the poverty guideline? 

To me it means that people in Clallam County, for whatever reason, are paid disparagingly less than in other areas of Washington State, no matter the gender; and that there is a serious detrimental gap in earnings on the rural north Olympic Peninsula when compared to Washington State that nobody wants to openly talk about (except me).

People in Clallam County can’t work just a few extra hours each week to make up $21,000 in order to catch up to workers in Seattle and Tacoma. The reality is that $1,700 a month makes up an entire year’s income for some families, and making an extra $1,700 a month on top of regular pay is not easy to do on the peninsula.

Money does not flow the same way in this rural region as it does in a major city two hours away; a reality that is not always understood until it is lived day after day after day.

The question my research leads me to is this:
Why are rural workers of all genders viewed as being worth less, when they pay the same license fees and taxes to work (and live) in Washington State as urban workers who earn more for doing the same work?  Is this location discrimination? 

I have struggled with this conundrum for over four years now and I am still perplexed by the substantial lack of earnings reported on the north Olympic Peninsula when compared to other parts of Washington State; and why it is that business owners and private individuals refuse to pay workers what they deserve and what they are worth -- enough to keep them off state benefits. 

Whether or not my question ever gets answered beyond 'that's just the way it is' there will always be another question for residents on the north Olympic Peninsula of Washington State: Are Food Stamps in Your Future?

If you're not sure, please refer to the Clallam County EDC report linked above in this article to better understand the economic workings of Clallam County.

Learn about Benefits in Washington State here: 
washingtonconnection.org/home/ 

Learn about Benefits in another state here: 
fns.usda.gov/snap/apply


THANK YOU FOR READING



 Become a Zazzle Affiliate and Start Earning for Sharing Today!
CLICK NOW TO SIGN UP FOR THE ZAZZLE ASSOCIATES PROGRAM

Shop & Create on Zazzle





I Love Zazzle

Home + Pets Spring Gifts

Wedding

Disney

Zazzle Logo

Popular posts from this blog

The Problem With TCM's Closed Captions and How To Fix It (For DISH Customers!)

Captioning Service 1 is the DISH default; switching it to 0 (zero) works with TCM captions. I don't want my MTV any more, but I do want my captions, especially on TCM where old movies are full of fuzzy sounds, funny accents, and mumbling voices -- and thanks be to the stenographers who make it possible! However, the past few months TCM's captions have not been as consistent and it made me question if they stopped captions altogether since all the other channels still had captions. The good news is TCM didn't do away with captions, but the Captioning Service setting did change without any word given to DISH customers or TCM viewers, at least not to this one. Scroll to the end to read the solution for DISH customers, or keep reading for my rhetorical digression: Gee, if only there was a way to inform paying customers of changes like this? For all the useless information TCM hosts spew, they could at least give some useful information since their captions are th

How I’m Saving Over $700 a Year by Shopping at Costco (Blue Collar Home Economics for Beginners)

Q: What’s the best way to save money when shopping at Costco? A: Buy items that are used every day! The more an item is used, the more that item is needed; therefore, if the most used items in a house are bought in bulk (at Costco or any warehouse club store), the more money it will save. I did a cost analysis on three food items that are used 5 to 7 days a week in my home and I was amazed at the findings when I compared the cost for the items in bulk to purchasing the items in smaller quantities; namely lunch cheese, coffee, and lunch meat. Please keep in mind that prices can vary by location and if there are weekly specials; the information I’m presenting is based on the prices listed on my receipts where I live, the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Lunch Cheese: In December of 2019 we started purchasing the 2.5lb block of Tillamook Pepper Jack Cheese at Costco for my husband’s lunches that he has five days a week, instead of the 7.5oz packages of sliced Sargento

Kinky Kicks, Disgraceful Dames, & Hollywood Hypocrisy! My 10-star Movie Review of 'Smarty' from 1934

My 10-star review on IMDb.com of ‘Smarty’ from 1934 , starring Joan Blondell, Warren William, Edward Everett Horton, Frank McHugh, and Claire Dodd:  Kinky Kicks, Disgraceful Dames, & Hollywood Hypocrisy! Marriage and divorce lawyers take a bigger beating in this movie than Joan Blondell does, and if a single slap on the face equates to domestic violence then people don't know what domestic violence really is! There is more violence against women in modern movies than there is in this film, yet people are now programmed to believe that it's acceptable for women to get beaten so long as it isn't by their husbands! Please, go sit through 'True Romance' and watch Patricia Arquette take a bloody beating from James Gandolfini if you think 'Smarty' is violence against women. Even 'Goodfellas' has more marital violence, yet both AMC & IFC can't stop showing it which tells me that reckless violence against women is the status quo per th