Biden Pentagon to give troops 'hardship' bonus of just $20 a month

The Biden administration's Pentagon will begin giving US troops “financial hardship allowances,” but the payment is unlikely to make a substantial difference to their salaries, according to Military.com.

Troops in the E1 to E3 ranks, considered junior enlisted troops, will receive an additional $20 a month as a result of the new bonus, said a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. he said Military.com Friday. Youth enlisted troops have been among those affected more difficult in the military due to the financial difficulties of recent years, with low pay compared to the private sector and high inflation rates and costs.

“Monthly bonus amounts, on average, will be approximately $120 [over the six months] … and they are based on the funding that Congress has made available,” the official told Military.com.

The bonuses were appropriated by Congress last year in a $43 million package included in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amid concerns that troop pay was unsustainable, according to Military .how. The Pentagon took the appropriated funds and calculated how many troops it could pay before the funds ran out, which was approximately 266,000 people.

As a result, only junior troops from E1 to E3 will receive the bonus, while the E6 rank will not, according to Military.com. Although the funds were authorized in December, they did not go to the Pentagon until late March.

“While it is welcome news that the department will provide some junior enlisted service members with a temporary bonus payment, as authorized [last year’s] NDAA, more needs to be done,” Justine Tripathi, spokeswoman for the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “[This is] why the [2025] NDAA NDAA offers junior enlisted service members a 19.5% pay increase.

The House proposed in June to give junior enlisted troops a 15 percent pay raise, on top of a proposed 4.5 percent raise for all troops, which equates to 19.5 percent for junior troops, according to Military. how. The Biden administration “strongly [opposed]” proposal, saying in a statement that the administration had to wait for its annual compensation review to be completed before any such decision is approved.

No military member should ever have to struggle to feed their family or pay for housing.

Fiscal year 25 #NDAA will increase service member compensation with a 15 percent pay raise for younger military service members, expand housing and food allowances, and improve the cost-of-living calculation. pic.twitter.com/X3Hmw4mH66

— GOP Armed Services (@HASCRepublicans) April 11, 2024

A year-long study by the HASC released in April found that “service members, especially young enlisted service members and service members who support large families, struggle to pay a home and feed their families”. According to the study, the salaries of junior enlisted troops have not been able to remain competitive with the civilian labor market.

According to the study, this sector of the troops received smaller pay increases, or no increases at all, in eight of the past 40 years. A separate The study by the Military Family Advisory Network in June found that more than half of military families, active duty members and veterans' financial well-being was poor.

The same study found that only 57% of respondents would recommend joining the military, compared to 74% in 2019.

The DCNF reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

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