Junior Enlisted to Get Economic Hardship Bonuses
In 2023, Congress authorized economic hardship payments to enlisted troops through the National Defense Authorization Act. Those funds were designed to offset the effects of inflation on the lowest-paid military members and some mid-career enlisted troops.
But the money didn’t start flowing as planned, and the program experienced trouble due to delays in passing a federal budget. In 2024, the bonuses are finally being paid, but the amount going to the troops seems less than adequate to some, as we’ll discuss below.
Economic Hardship Bonuses Delayed
Military.com reports the National Defense Authorization Act gave Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ”the ability to approve monthly bonuses for any troops in the rank of E6 or below if he determines that ‘prevailing economic conditions may adversely affect’ them. The bill also left it to the secretary to set the rate of the bonus.”
These military economic hardship bonuses were delayed due to the inability to pass a spending bill to fund the government. Partisan bickering over culture war add-ons to government funding bills, including the defense budget, helped create these delays.
Full funding for many programs, including economic hardship payments, was held up because some lawmakers wouldn’t agree to fund the government until very late in the fiscal year.
Delayed Economic Help and Political Infighting
It should be noted that these culture war disagreements were often over issues that had nothing to do with national security, such as language attempting to ban drag shows on military installations or the display of pride flags on federal property.
While some in Washington paid lip service to the notion of helping these troops, the refusal to pass a government spending package over issues such as those hurt the junior enlisted families some lawmakers claim they want to help. In this case, funding delayed equaled benefits denied.
Financial Help for Junior Troops Coming
Now, the funding is available, and help is said to be coming to the troops. But the amount of that help is based on what the DoD could do with the allocated funds to help these troops, some $43 million. But does that number work out?
Military.com reports that with the Economic Hardship Bonus funding set at $43 million, the program must be limited to junior enlisted in the ranks of E1 through E3 and not E1s through E6s as originally planned.
Even with a restricted pool of recipients, how far does $43 million go?
A $20 Economic Hardship Bonus?
Military.com reports, “Troops in the most junior ranks — E1 to E-3 — will automatically see the bonus in their paychecks starting this month and going through December but, on average, they will be getting only $20 a month.”
This is despite the uniformed services’ acknowledgement that, “Financial stress is a highly-individualized experience and can affect every area of your life.”
That’s according to Robyn Mroszczyk, Financial Education Program manager with the Directorate of Prevention, Resilience and Readiness at the Pentagon.
Mroszczyk was quoted in an article published by Army.mil, which also notes: “…neglecting financial obligations can lead to severe consequences in the military, including negative evaluations, hindered promotion prospects, loss of security clearance, rank reduction, administrative actions and more…”
Economic Pain For Junior Enlisted
Some critics of the Pentagon find it unacceptable that troops experiencing economic hardship are told by DoD leadership that it’s on them to maintain their financial readiness and then handed a $20 bonus to help make ends meet.
At press time, there is still no clear indication whether a significant pay increase for troops is forthcoming. The House version of the 2025 NDAA includes pay increases up to 19% depending on rank (junior troops would get more), and the Senate version contains pay increases up to 4.5%.
These proposals have yet to be signed into law at press time, so there is no indication whether the relatively low amount of the Economic Hardship Bonus for junior troops will remain low, be increased by federal law, or be supplemented by other pay raises.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle thought it acceptable to authorize economic assistance at these levels. MilitaryOneSource.com reports that in 2022, there were approximately 3.4 million military members. Doing the math on $43 million if you assume (incorrectly) that every serving member would get an economic hardship bonus might lead some to wonder what lawmakers were thinking when they decided on $43 million for the bonuses.
Even if only 1/3rd of all troops get the money, the ” bonus ” amount paid at press time doesn’t seem to be enough. Time will tell whether the amount will be increased in the next fiscal year.
How to Apply for the Military Economic Hardship Bonus
As mentioned above, there is no application process for the military’s Economic Hardship Bonus as the payments begin automatically to qualifying junior enlisted military members beginning at the end of July 2024.
Read next: Active Duty Military Benefits
About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
