Montana food stamp use high
The number of people receiving food stamps in Montana remains high, despite lower unemployment rates. Officials are blaming it on Montana’s struggling housing construction industry and low service industry wages, and easier access to the food stamp program.
State officials say more Montanans are working now than during the recession. At the same time, the number of people receiving food stamps, also known as SNAP benefits, hasn’t changed much.
One factor cited by program officials is the ease with which people can now get SNAP benefits.
Jamie Palagi, who manages the Montana SNAP program as Human and Community Services Division administrator for the Department of Public Health and Human Services, said applications are available online, instead of requiring people to apply during business hours.
People who qualify for other social welfare programs like Medicaid can find out more quickly if they are SNAP eligible.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said more than 45 percent of Montana families relying on SNAP benefits include people who work, and about 70 percent are families with children.
More than a quarter of the families also have a member who is elderly or disabled, the Billings Gazette reported.
SNAP is available to families living on the edge of poverty, which allows people to apply if they have less than $26,000 for a family of three.
Virginia Mermel, who coordinates the BackPack Meals and Teen Pantry Program for Billings School District 2, said unemployment isn’t the problem. The program gives low-income students food to last them through weekends and holidays, enough for the students, but not for parents.
“The minimum wage went to $8.05 in January 2015, but the living wage for one parent with one child would be $17.35, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator,” Mermel said. “We don’t have enough good-paying jobs. A lot of our growth has been in low-paying jobs.”
According to state officials, nearly 22 percent of Montanans age 16 to 64 work less than 35 hours a week.
The Montana Department of Labor said about 35 percent of those part-time workers would like to work full-time.