Last November, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke at a press conference highlighting Pentagon actions to alleviate financial pressures on military service members and their families throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. He spoke about the hardships faced by military families, including food insecurity. The concept of service members and their families struggling to afford necessities such as groceries surprised many Americans. When the Associated Press reported research that over 150,000 troops couldn’t feed their families, the public reactions ranged from shock to outrage to kindness. While the American public may be shocked and surprised by service members struggling to afford food for their families, food insecurity among military families is not a new problem, nor is it unique to the economic challenges during the pandemic. The financial realities faced by service members, specifically those in the junior ranks with dependents, are much more challenging than annual funding levels across the Department of Defense might suggest.
How many military families are food insecure?
Estimates by Feeding America put the number of service members facing food insecurity at approximately 160,000. As there are more military dependents than service members and food insecurity among the troops is chronically underreported, the number of affected individuals is likely higher. Some of the resources available to service members struggling with food insecurity require the intervention of their commanding officers—making an experience that is often already regarded as shameful even more difficult to address.
How did this happen?
While military service has traditionally been viewed as a vehicle to economic prosperity and post-service stability, societal changes have drastically altered the relationship to financial security, especially for the junior ranks of the armed forces. Benefits such as the G.I. Bill for education benefits, the VA Home Loan for homeownership, and the Department of Veterans Affairs for healthcare-related expenses developed the popular perception that the military is a path to a middle-class lifestyle. However, the rising cost of living and high rates of military spouse unemployment create a circumstance in which service members must survive on one income—when nearly 70 percent of American households are dual-income. While it is true that military service members receive a housing stipend, the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), does not always keep pace with volatile housing markets. The frequent relocations that are a staple of military life- affect military families in addition to the significant financial strain caused by the impact of frequent moves on the careers of military spouses. Moving between different cities, states, or even countries keeps military families from building financial equity through homeownership and makes them more vulnerable to the increasing cost of housing as rental prices rise throughout the country. Federal policies prohibit some methods of assistance for military families that would be available to civilians in the same income bracket. The SNAP component is not eligible for most military families, as their housing allowance is counted as income.
The root of much of the financial pressure of junior military members is their current compensation. The average junior enlisted service member doesn't earn much money: an E-4 with over four years of service has a base salary of $33,000; while above the federal poverty level, this creates financial strain if the service member has dependents, especially with an unemployed spouse. Service members juggle multiple levels of compensation and benefits: their base pay, BAH, Basic Allowances for Subsistence (BAS), alongside other special incentives. BAH is designed to cover 95 percent of housing expenses, including utilities; however, in the majority of locations, this allowance fails to meet the intended need, forcing the service member to pay for housing out of their already low paycheck.
Is this because of COVID?
While the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated food insecurity among the military community, the crisis has persisted long before. The COVID-19 pandemic has upended employment through several economic cycles- reaching an unemployment high of 14.8 percent in April 2020. The unemployment rate for military spouses spiked during COVID, from 22 percent in 2019 to 35 percent unemployment in 2021. 1 in 8 military families experienced food insecurity in some capacity prior to the pandemic.
As a result of the pandemic, the housing market has undergone dramatic shifts. Since the onset of COVID-19, the rate of military families experiencing food insecurity rose to 1 in 5. The spike in housing costs has been very disruptive and unusual- prices are rising at the fastest rate seen in the United States for nearly 40 years. While the Pentagon has temporarily raised BAH for certain high cost of living places, salaries remain stable. Therefore, this spike in housing costs directly impacts military families' budgets, leaving less room for groceries.
Why does it matter?
Military food insecurity has the potential to impact both readiness and retention, challenging the military's ability to respond to threats. A crisis in military food security has impacts far beyond the day-to-day insecurity of individual service members and their families who have sacrificed a great deal for the country struggling to put food on the table. When military families are food insecure, individual service members experience significant anxiety and stress with the potential to harm their military performance. Financial strain is a significant factor in service members leaving the military at a junior level, harming retention and causing the military services to lose valuable and experienced service members. There are long-term recruiting effects as well. As the children of military service members are among the most likely to join the military as young adults, the negative health effects caused by food insecurity--including but not limited to asthma, depression, diabetes, obesity, and malnutrition--reduces the pool of Americans eligible for military service.
What is DoD doing?
The new initiatives introduced by Secretary Austin lay the groundwork for combatting the crisis in military food insecurity during and following- the COVID-19 pandemic. Temporary increases in BAH and expense reimbursement timelines for housing offer a reprieve for military families who have relocated during a housing market spike. A department-wide toolkit for leadership to proactively identify struggling individuals and connect them with the resources they need raises the awareness of military food insecurity. However, the roadmap currently under development by the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness has the opportunity to take direct actions to increase food security across the armed forces in a permanent way, with an eye on future challenges.
What can be done about military food insecurity?
While this is a tough issue to tackle, especially with the ongoing pandemic, military food insecurity is not inevitable and is not hopeless. There are steps to be taken:
- Pentagon guidance during the pandemic has allowed for temporary increases in military housing allowances in regions that have experienced higher than average rental costs increases. By allowing for drastically different economic recovery rates in different parts of the country, DoD leadership has the opportunity to make permanent this approach to housing allowances for a more flexible approach to BAH, reducing service members' housing expenses in quickly changing markets.
- The implementation roadmap tasked to the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness should be closely analyzed and followed to reduce food insecurity in the military community.
- Remote work opportunities for military spouses have changed the game for the decades-long problem of military spouse unemployment. When employers allow permanent remote work when feasible, military spouses benefit, and so do their families. The jury is still out on the specifics of how remote work will transition to the post-pandemic world, but industries and companies long resistant to regular teleworking have seen the changes.
Nathalie Grogan is a research associate in the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
