Basic Needs Allowance: What You Need to Know
The Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) is a military benefit authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2022. It is offered to service members with household incomes below a certain percentage of federal poverty guidelines. The allowance is not automatic, but some servicemembers may be identified as qualifying for it by their commands before being offered the BNA as a supplement to basic military pay.
Basic Needs Allowance Overview
- DoD guidelines mention that the military services are expected to “proactively screen service members for eligibility (based on service member pay) and notify them of their potential eligibility.”
- The Department of Defense describes the BNA as a taxable supplemental allowance for service members who are “the most financially challenged.”
- BNA is designed for active-duty military families with dependents. The service member must have completed basic training.
- Service members receiving BNA must reapply each year according to DFAS.mil.
- They must also reapply when “other factors trigger a recertification, such as a change in household size, a PCS to or from Alaska or Hawaii, or an increase in gross household income.”
- According to the DoD, any service member who believes they need BNA should apply.
- Regardless of the specific process used, all applicants must submit income documentation such as pay stubs or a W-2.
How Much Is the Basic Needs Allowance?
According to the Defense Department Accounting and Finance official site, the amount of the allowance is calculated as follows:
“When determining BNA eligibility, the applicant’s military service will evaluate whether that service member’s preceding calendar year’s gross household income and current year’s annualized gross household income is less than 150% of the preceding year’s Federal Poverty Guidelines for the service member’s household size and geographic location.”
“The monthly BNA payments are calculated as the difference between 200% of the current year’s federal poverty guidelines minus the preceding year’s gross household income, divided by 12.”
What About Families with More than One Eligible Military Member?
If a household has two or more members who are eligible to receive the Basic Needs Allowance, only one of them can receive the allowance at any given time.
Who Is Not Eligible for the Basic Needs Allowance?
- A service member who does not have dependents is not eligible for the allowance at press time.
- If a service member is eligible and then gets promoted, prompting for a permanent increase in pay, and that pay increase raises the service member above the policy’s financial guidelines, then that member becomes ineligible.
- Any eligible service member may voluntarily elect not to receive the benefit, and they must do so in writing.
Food Insecurity in the Military?
Why is the BNA even necessary? The National Military Family Association (NMFA) conducted a survey of over 11,000 service members and their families. They asked one question:
“In the past 12 months, have you, or someone in your household, had to visit a charitable food distribution site to make ends meet?”
The results of that survey may surprise you. The NMFA Survey found that 14% of those surveyed, or 1,632 military families, reported visiting a food bank within the past year.
In another study, Blue Star Families were surveyed; 4,000 respondents participated in the poll, which included active military, veterans, National Guard, Reserve, and Gold Star spouses or family members.
The Blue Star Family Pulse Check found that 18% of active duty families and 23% of National Guard families reported difficulty purchasing food and other essentials within the past year.
Furthermore, within the active duty ranks, food security ranked as the most immediate need for Junior Enlisted (22%), Mid/Senior Enlisted (20%), and Commissioned Officers (23%). In other words, nearly a fifth of the service members polled indicated that food security is an immediate need for them.
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About the author
Lori Waddell serves as Co-director of an emergency response COAD in Montana, a freelance writer, and an Air Force Key Spouse. She is passionate about empowering communities and individuals through knowledge and resources. She currently lives in Montana with her husband and two children.
