Although unemployment in the suburb runs at about 10 per cent, the area is full of hard workers; just over 40 per cent of the workforce clock up more than 40 hours a week. The suburb's median household income sits just above $1600, about the same as the wider Perth area, but statistics paint a bleak picture of life in the northern suburb. The WA 'food stress index', created by Curtin University's School of Public Health, puts a figure on how easy it is for families to access food. Food stress happens when a household needs to spend more than 25 per cent of their disposable income on food and the index is considered a good indicator of broader financial stress.

Outer suburban and country areas struggle the hardest with scores ranging from 873.5 for North Perth to 1400.4 for Halls Creek. Clarkson is on the higher end of the scale with a score of 1016, though other northern suburbs such as Butler, Merriwa and Ridgewood rated far worse with a score of 1061. Foodbank WA chief executive Greg Hebble said there had never been more demand for his service, and the outer northern suburbs, much like the rest of outer suburban Perth, were hurting. "Low incomes or bill stress are why people are coming to us or going to our agencies and seeking support," he said. "About 43 per cent of people we feed are on low incomes, not homeless or the unemployed or anything else like that.

"They've got jobs and sometimes they've got dual jobs too. It's just that the cost of living is quite expensive. People are really struggling." For the men and woman on the streets of the coastal suburb, the numbers don't tell the full picture. WAtoday visited the Ocean Keys Shopping Centre on a sunny Tuesday afternoon and spoke to northern suburbs residents and small business owners about how high-level economic conditions impacted them day-to-day. Chris is struggling to keep on top of the bills Chris from Clarkson says he's keeping his head above water, but daycare and credit card bills are a struggle. Credit:Nathan Hondros

With a young family to support, Chris is particularly sensitive to financial stresses – daycare putting the biggest dent in his household budget. "If you're going for a beer or food all the prices are up but people's wages aren't covering the bills and food," he said. "My wife works part time, she's not earning great money or anything like that but everything she earns we pretty much put into daycare. "A mate of mine and his missus both work full time, they've got two kids and on the school holidays, it's $900 bucks a week straight to daycare. That is a lot of money." He said he didn't have trouble paying off the mortgage but keeping on top of credit cards was sometimes tough.

"You fall back on them when you need quick cash so it's hard to try and keep up," he said. Sian is heading back to Queensland Sian, 31, and her family came to WA a year ago from Queensland to work as a nurse, but the high cost of living so far from the city is forcing her to return east. Sian, a nurse originally from Queensland, says she is heading home because of the cost of living in WA. Credit:Nathan Hondros "The petrol is extreme because I have to drive so much," she said.

"The rent is high. My mortgage in Queensland is less than my rent here. "The food here is lower because there are so many more options but the daycare here is extreme compared to Queensland." Sian said she gave Perth a go for a year to see if the bills became more manageable, but she conceded saving wasn't her strong suit. "I'm also s--- with my money, let's be real," she said. Pat and Josh are hopeful, despite health issues

Pat, 63, is a kiwi expat and has been struggling to get work because of health issues, but remained positive about his situation. "Cost of living is pretty high for me, I've got kids. It'd be alright if the wages went up," he said. "I'm not working at the moment, I had a couple of heart attacks and they don't hire you after you've had a couple of those. "This is not the worse place to be, is it? There are other places that are more hard out than us." Josh, 29, said the mining boom had created two levels of wealth.

"Perth rates have gone through the roof and that's because we've got so many people that work up north that have so much money," he said. "They can afford to spend more but us in poverty we can't afford it. I've been working at Woolworths but that's barely getting me by." The cost of living is 'horrendous' for Anne, who is on the pension Anne, 74, described bills as a "horror story" that stretched her budget, but her biggest gripe was with the cost of groceries. "It's an absolute farce at the moment. No one can afford to buy meat," she said.

"You see the prices going up from one week to the next. I said to the lady today I can't believe toilet rolls have gone up 25 cents in a week. "That's ridiculous and when you buy hundreds of items it all adds up." Down to business Among the big box retailers common to just about any suburb across Perth, Clarkson is dotted with small businesses doing their best in the tough retail conditions. When things get tough for households, these small businesses are usually the first to know.

WAtoday spoke to small business owners in Clarkson about how they are surviving. Megan's Cube 43 Fitness Megan Levett's gym was born out of the misfortunes of another. She was a trainer at a gym in the shopping centre but when it closed her clients screamed out for a new venue to keep fit. Cube 43 Fitness owner Megan Levett opened her own business after the gym where she worked closed its doors. Credit:Nathan Hondros After holding classes at a mate's house she decided to take the plunge and open up her own space.

She said the gym was doing well but she still needed to teach at a fitness college to bolster her income and hiring another full-time staffer was out of the question. Her biggest client base is young families that want to be fit and healthy but when economic strife hits, her services are usually the first to be cut from the budget. "Around here people are lower socio-economic and we have the challenge of when something comes up in their life they don't have that extra cash to throw at gym and fitness," she said. "Our price point is a bit higher than the bigger gyms so we struggle in that aspect but at the same time, we have lower overheads so we don't need to have as many members around us." Harshil's Party Mix

Party Mix is located a few hundred metres down the road from the Ocean Keys Shopping Centre, which was a deliberate move by Harshil Dodia due to high rent prices. "The location was ideal and there were no other shops around, so obviously it was cheap," he said. Harshil Dodia, owner of Clarkson's Party Mix store, says he works about 80 hours a week. Credit:Nathan Hondros "The first year was quite hard, we didn't have a lot of turnover going into second year, it's getting better now." Party Mix is a one-man operation with Harshil taking on all duties, from customer service to completing the mountains of paperwork that come with operating a small business.