The Biden administration's Department of Defense will begin providing “financial hardship pay” to US soldiers, but Military.com reports that the amount of the payment is unlikely to make a significant difference to soldiers' pay.
A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said soldiers with ranks E1 to E3 – considered junior soldiers – would receive an extra $20 a month under the new bonus. Said In recent years, lower-ranking soldiers have been the ones most affected by financial hardships within the military due to lower pay compared to the civilian sector and higher inflation and price rates, Military.com reported on Friday. (Related: Pentagon dismantles failed overseas project weeks early, declares mission accomplished)
“The average monthly bonus will be about $120. [over the six months] “… and that is based on funding provided by Congress,” the official told Military.com.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrives to attend the USCG change of command ceremony at USCG Headquarters in Washington, DC, June 1, 2022. (Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
The bonuses were allocated by Congress last year in a $43 million package included in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amid concerns that soldier pay wasn't sustainable, according to Military.com. Using the allocated funds, the Pentagon calculated how many soldiers it could pay before the money ran out: about 266,000.
As a result, only junior soldiers in ranks E1 to E3 will receive the bonus, while soldiers in the E6 rank will not receive it, according to Military.com. The funding was approved in December but not appropriated to the Pentagon until late March.
“It is good news that the Ministry of Defence is giving temporary bonuses to junior soldiers, [last year’s] “The NDAA requires us to do more,” House Armed Services Committee spokesman Justin Tripathi told the Daily Caller News Foundation.[This is] why [2025] NDAA The NDAA provides a 19.5% pay increase for junior NCOs.
According to Military.com, the House of Representatives proposed a 4.5% pay raise for all soldiers, plus a 15% raise for junior soldiers, which would amount to 19.5% for junior soldiers. [opposed]” he said in a statement, adding that the administration must wait for the completion of its annual pay review before approving such a decision.
Military members should not have to struggle to feed or house their families.
Fiscal Year 2013 #NDAA Increases military pay for junior enlisted personnel by raising pay by 15 percent, expanding housing and food allowances, and improving cost-of-living calculations. pic.twitter.com/X3Hmw4mH66
— Military Republicans (@HASCRepublicans) April 11, 2024
A year-long study by HASC released in April found that “service members, especially junior NCOs and those with large families, are struggling to buy housing and provide for their families. Junior NCO salaries are not even close to being competitive with the civilian job market,” the study found.
The survey found that service members in the branch have seen small or no pay increases in eight of the past 40 years. A separate survey conducted in June by the Military Family Advisory Network found that more than half of military families, active duty and veterans, are struggling financially.
The same survey found that only 57% of respondents would encourage people to join the military, down from 74% in 2019.
The DCNF has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.
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