Through the coronavirus pandemic, we've seen one viral image after another of people lining up for help from food banks. One place you might not think about food bank lines forming is on military bases—but the need is there, too, The New York Times reports. Enlisted members of the military may be paid as little as $1,733 per month and often aren’t eligible for federal food aid due to a housing allowance many get. With the pandemic, many military spouses have lost jobs and kids aren’t getting free or reduced-price school meals.
According to one report, 7% to 18% of military families and veterans have had to seek emergency food assistance. According to another study, 39% of active duty families have needed food during the pandemic. Along those lines, requests for groceries have grown 40% at the Y.M.C.A. food pantry at Fort Bragg, with requests for peanut butter and jelly and oatmeal especially growing as kids are at home. A program distributing meals for children of military families in San Diego has seen demand grow by 400% with kids out of school.
Military spouses struggle to stay employed because of frequent moves, and when layoffs come, they are the first to lose jobs because they don’t have seniority. That adds up to a 25% unemployment rate, which combined with the low pay for junior enlisted personnel can mean considerable struggles.
According to a Pentagon spokesman, “Military members are very well paid.” How so? Because other people have it worse: “Junior enlisted members, on average, are paid better than 90 percent of the adult working population with a high school education and similar years of experience in the work force. The issue of food insecurity has been examined and found to be minimal in the military.”
Tell that to the families asking for help these days.