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I just got back from downtown near Fort Hood Army Base.
Talked with a wife of a Army Soldier.
She says that some of the wives of Army Soldiers are hurting, because they can't use or get food Stamps because of the Shut Down.
Really, all the money the Government wastes, they can't pay the Military enough money to not be on food
stamps?
So, I looked online, and to my surprise, active duty military families have turned to food stamps.
There has been no disruption in getting food stamps.
Military families have been getting food stamps for as long as I can remember, decades at least.
The military pays just fine, it is those families who incur too much costs, by way of having more kids than they can afford, who get food stamps. The military can do a lot of things, but they cannot prevent E4 Joe from pumping four kids out he cannot afford on his E4 salary.
At first I was confused because military pay hasn't been interrupted. I'm not sure if food stamps have actually stopped, but if so, that's hurting a lot more than military families!
Military pay is pretty decent, but in the lower ranks, a bunch of kids can push someone to food stamps.
Well, obviously the Coast Guard has been disrupted, but that's another story.
Military family eligibility for food stamps does occur when the number of dependents exceeds resources, yeah...but also when spouses are chronically underemployed due to numerous factors, including the constraints of frequent moves.
I just got back from downtown near Fort Hood Army Base.
Talked with a wife of a Army Soldier.
She says that some of the wives of Army Soldiers are hurting, because they can't use or get food Stamps because of the Shut Down.
Really, all the money the Government wastes, they can't pay the Military enough money to not be on food
stamps?
So, I looked online, and to my surprise, active duty military families have turned to food stamps.
PLEASE, the term is "Post"....not "Base". Now, that said........
I recall hearing of families being on food stamps....as a dependent in the 70s.
There may be something else as well, such as not knowing how to work, prepare food. My mother in the 60s, as I recall, would have us half on fresh milk, half on powdered, and there would be that frozen in the chest freezer, either fresh or day old. In fact, I grew up on skim milk. Something like that. Further, that may be a reflection of things for practically every place I grew up, there was a freezer. Maybe it was because one bought "day old" and then froze it or maybe because one only got steaks once a month, but growing up, we froze a lot of food.
One of the skills I picked up as a dirty little jobs officer was being a financial counselor. Sailors were not applying for COMRATS (was that the term?) when they were missing meals at the mess and paying to eat out of their own pocket. This was further complicated by people who only knew one way to eat and that was fast food which, at the very least, was paying 3X the cost what it would be to prepare it at home.
Buying raw goods at the commissary, then, and one could make out like a bandit ALTHOUGH I don't know where the cost would be feeding a family, with or without eating discipline.....back in the days of take it or leave it.
There are agencies on base/post that can help these folks weather the storm. They will give them cash and may not even have to pay it back depending on the circumstances.
The Navy Relief Agency is one of them. I'm sure the Army and Air Force have similar.
Well, obviously the Coast Guard has been disrupted, but that's another story.
Military family eligibility for food stamps does occur when the number of dependents exceeds resources, yeah...but also when spouses are chronically underemployed due to numerous factors, including the constraints of frequent moves.
The fact that having a child in the military only costs about $30 is a factor of people making too little having children. They may have added a co-pay or something since my time, but I'll bet it's not the thousands of dollars it costs a civilian couple to have a child.
And, yes, there is also the chronic underemployment of spouses in an economy that requires a two-income family. Even if the spouses have what should be well-paid occupations, each move knocks them back to the starting gate for salary and seniority.
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