January 20, 2023
The Military Must Do More to Help Junior Service Members Find and Pay for Child Care
In the military, one of the most stressful parts of relocating to a new assignment, second only to finding a home, is securing child care. The post-COVID economy has driven cost and competition for child care to all-time highs, leaving service members to figure out the challenging question of how to pay for something they have to cover.
That's gotten harder as the price of everything from bread to gas has gone up at breakneck speed, far outpacing military pay increases. Child care costs have risen dramatically during the pandemic by41%, now accounting for 20% of the average American's salary.
Fully funded child care would be another positive step on the long and continuous journey of improved military compensation.
The Department of Defense should push for legislation and funding to cover the cost of non-school age child care for all active-duty junior enlisted troops and company-grade officers in the paygrades of E-1 through E-5 and O-1 through O-3 who have eligible dependents. This entitlement would help bolster mission readiness, strengthen young military families' finances, and, in an increasingly difficult recruiting environment, better position the armed forces to compete for talent.
Read the full article from Military.com.
More from CNAS
-
Sharper: Trump 2.0
Commentary
Donald Trump's return to the White House is widely expected to reshape America's global priorities. With personnel choices and policy agendas that mark a significant break fro...
By Charles Horn & Gwendolyn Nowaczyk
-
Team America
Podcast
Kate Kuzminski, Deputy Director of Studies, and the Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society (MVS) Program at CNAS, joins to discuss President-elect Donald Trump nomina...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
The All-Volunteer Force and Mobilization with Katherine Kuzminski, CNAS
Podcast
Katherine Kuzminski, the Deputy Director of Studies, and the Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society (MVS) Program at CNAS, joins Squaring the Circle to discuss the al...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
Episode 7: Kate Kuzminski, CNAS
Podcast
Kate Kuzminski is Deputy Director of Studies and Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). She is an expert on ...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
