I’m a little surprised that I have to write this, but it seems that I do. The military does not pay people more money because they have dependents. There is no increase in pay for getting married, or for having children. Base pay is base pay, period.
There are three pays that can be affected by your dependency status: Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), and Family Separation Allowance (FSH).
There are two ways that BAH is affected by having dependents. First, if you not authorized BAH due to your rank, and you acquire a dependent, you are automatically authorized BAH. Second, if you are authorized BAH at the without dependent rate, and you acquire a dependent, then your BAH rate will change to with dependents.
There are a few notes about BAH and dependents:
- In most cases, BAH is paid for the location where the service member is stationed.
- BAH is typically not paid to service members who reside in the barracks in the US. Geographical bachelors may request permission to live in the barracks and still receive BAH for their family, but it is not guaranteed.
- BAH is paid to service members who are on an unaccompanied tour. This BAH is paid for the location that the family is located.
COLA is a special allowance paid to offset the higher cost of living in overseas locations and certain high-cost areas within the US. COLA is the only allowance that changes based on the number of dependents you have.
FSH is paid to service members who are separated from their families for more than 30 days due to military obligations. It is not paid for voluntary separations, like when the service member moves ahead of the family to a new duty station.
I’ve tried to keep this short and simple, but I’m sure that will create some questions. Put them in the comments, and I’ll answer!
Update 3/11/2011: I have been seeing a lot of comments (here and on Facebook) saying that this is a stupid question. I agree with the theory that it could be a stupid question. However, I wrote it because I get TONS of questions from service members asking when they will see their pay raise for having a child, or new wives asking when their husband will get paid for being married. I’m glad so many people understand the military pay system well, my job is to help educate the rest of the folks who are confused.
You can play the pay vs allowance game all day long if you want.
The fact of the matter is that your "income" will be more than a fellow service member with the same quals/time in service duty station and grade if you have a dependant.
Fair right….?
This might just be me but I consider that as getting paid more !
you may get paid more but believe me the dependent will utilize the extra pay and more so its actually a decrease in money for the soldier which is why the single guys have all the money and nice toys and the young married people with the kids are always struggling
But the piddly bit that you get for having a dependent doesn't come anywhere close to the overall cost of that dependent.
Here's an option… if you think the rules that are in effect aren't fair, you have 3 options. 1. Work with legislators to have them changed. 2. Accept that the rules were the rules when you joined. If you truly feel they are unfair, get out. 3. Complain about it online.
It's not income because they have to spend money on dependents that you don't have.
Spin it how you want buddy. Money received IS income. Money the government takes from you is still a tax, whether you call it CRV or whatever. ECON 101!!!!!!!
This sentence makes no sense.
Your wallet or checking account don't know where the money comes from. Base Pay, BAH Flight pay. It's alll just money. Don't be a smart ass….
I agree… My husband is in the navy.. We are newlyweds and I just found out I am pregnant.. I’ve never been involved with the military before and I don’t know how it all works. BAH to me is simply a larger paycheck so I may word a question differently.. For instance “do we make more money when we have a dependent?”… That doesn’t mean I’m asking if there is a salary raise.. I’m just not familiar with the military terms used to ask the question three way you would LIKE to hear it.. When you answered “our bah rate changes when you aquirea dependent..” Is just another way of saying… Yes you make more money when you have a baby. You approached this in an extremely rude and unfriendly manner..the entire purpose of these blogs is to answer questions people have and it’s unnecessary to call someone like me stupid simply because I’m not educated on military terms. You have just proven yourself to be inappropriate, immature, and narrow-minded.
Yes it is fair. Kate said it right base pay it just that base pay. You get more in incentive or speaial pay only, however, you only get it for having a dependant which could be one or more the pay does not increase or decrease per dependant.
"The fact of the matter is that your "income" will be more than a fellow service member with the same quals/time in service duty station and grade if you have a dependant." This argument can be made for other duty assignments in the military such as hazardous duty, flight pay etc.
The basic fact is if you want more pay then pick up some NEC's that pay you for your training or study and advance to the next pay grade or just get out to make way for those of us who want to serve thier country with pride!
Strange. In the civilian world, your company does not pay extra for BHA, dependents, etc. But without "incentive pay" not that many people would enlist. No wonder the country is in so much debt.
In the Civilian world you are not normally deployed for months at a time getting shot at , or missing the birth of your child cause you are in a 3rd world country. Some jobs yes keep you from your family, but they are no where near as dangerous.
Thank you sailorwife! Seriously ^^ this was a smartass comment. Just so you know, they cut off enlistment bonuses. Now you’ll be lucky to get a re-enlistment bonus. When my husband joined all he got was a first paycheck out of bootcamp. So stop hating just cause you don’t know what you’re talking about.
I get so tired of hearing people complain about service members with dependents getting more money then non-dependent service members. You want to talk about fair, let's talk about service members who bust their behinds and make rank quickly yet get paid less then members who are 2 ranks below them but have more time in service. Where is the fairness there?
Happens in my household and it is irritating!!!
I Agree!!! husband made E-5 and 4 years of being in the military and since hes from a state with high state tax laws we see no extra money at all!!!!
Change his home of record to a non state tax state
Most states have a clause for military members. My husband's home of record is Illinois, however he doesn't have to pay the state tax on military income.
fyi those nco's picking up rank aren't always busting their ass. a lot of mos's have some busted ass cutting scores some below 1550. that is the cutting score i rated the day i rated a cutting score , but guess what my cutting score is among the highest hitting 1687. so for all the "boot" ass NCO's that busted their ass get off your pedestal bc you had a 1500 and picked up don't make you a good marine.
i.e. supply, radioman, etc… Constantly below 1400. There should be a minimum score that is the same across the board for all Marines, which I think should be 1600 for E-4, and 1800 for E-5. Only once you've reached that score, should you be competing for spaces.
Dave, part of that is because there would be less taxes taken out of your base pay. That's really the only part that affects you if you have dependents. As far as the military paying you–they base it on your rank and # of years in service. It's what is taken out maybe that you are considering. The government would tax a single person more versus a married couple with 2 dependents.
The COLA and BHA and BSA are also based on rank and time in service, AND if you have dependents or not. Someone with 1 dependent would get the EXACT same as someone with 12 dependents.
Your bank acount should not be bigger because of a personal choice rather than getting promoted, NEC's or gaining quals as previously stated.
I have a dog. That is a personal choice. Where is my DSA? He costs money?
Equal PAY for equal work ! If you dont agree with that I dont know what else to say.
Pretty disgusting statement. Maybe your mother should have made the personal choice of having a dog instead too! Fact of the matter,the government helps Families with dependents on a every day basis in the civilan world! Why not those who serve our country and are forced to be away from their Families? If you don’t believe me go pay a visit to your local welfare office or better yet ask your mother how her tax refund increased after having you!You clearly have very little education if any at all to post such ignorance!
Dave, you rock!!! DSA :)
I do not think that this is a stupid issue to address – I have addressed this this question several times over the years simply because folks that are new to the military do not understand how the pay system works. You cannot understand it if you do not ask. Thanks for posting this, Kate!
Then there are the poor lower enlisted souls who think the more kids you have the more BAH you get. Uh, no. So wrong. And yes, we ran across a few of these guys at Ft. Benning. Usually E-1s and E-2s, with 3 or 4 kids, & wives that don't work. How they kept those kids clothed & fed is beyond me. Their pay is just barely above the poverty line as it is.
They take WIC and food stamps. Basically double dip the government.
For those of you arguing that having a dependent should not mean an increase in allowances, I have one point to make. I am a spouse who has a Master's degree and would love to be employed to help support my family rather than only relying on my husband's income…HOWEVER every time the military tells us to move I have to start over. I will NEVER make the same amount of money as my colleagues who have the same number of years working experience I do because I have to start over everywhere we go. That is of course, if I am lucky enough to even find a job!
Military members are people. They want to someday have families of their own. Without a little bit of help, the sacrifices made by duty members and their families would be much greater and it would be much more difficult to support those families.
AMEN to that Teddi…..I too have my Masters, but have been looking for a job for 11 months. Following an active-duty spouse around the world for 18 years, means nothing to the DOD or corporate world.
My husband is currently an E-6, but when we had our 1st child he was an E-3 and an E-4 when we had our 2nd child. It was tough, but we made it and have 2 terrific teenagers to show for it!
I have never had a problem finding a job as a military spouse. We have lived all over the world and in the US. You have to be willing to work outside of your field, even if it begins as an entry level position.
Yes but some entry level positions are not worth the paper the money is printed on. I’m not sure how much education or experience you have but I have both in the wonderful world of payroll! Lol! Anyways for me its hard to find a job in my field and to step down? Well have you ever heard of being declined a job for being over quailified? On top of that,the earnings that I would bring in at a lower income job would barely pay Childcare expenses at a decent school for my toodler so what’s the point?
I agree Ceci, I have been turned down by numerous jobs because of the over qualified thing, what ever that means… Also being here in Hawaii is difficult because by me being in the healthcare field, I have to have all of my licenses transferred over to hawaii, and that takes time and money…..who is going to compensate us for that?
We Spouses agree! When you are married to a military member you essentially become an EMPLOYEE of the military also. The physical and emotional work and time it takes to pack up, move, research, and resettle your family, school, home, medical, and employment issues are not compensated to the spouse and family at all in the way that it should be. The moving becomes a full time job for the spouse! Without pay! And to add insult to injury, we always end up paying so much of the TRUE expense of the total moving process out of our own pocket! Not to even touch on the subject of the laborious job of recovering the DAMAGES and loss to your personal belongings that always takes place during the moving process! Being a spouse to the MILITARY is a FULL time job for the spouse that I personally have yet to see a single dime for. Some may say "well, you have a choice" My answer would be….." yeah………. divorce. " Which is out of the question for those who are devoted beyond the turmoil. So, to those of you who would criticise, you need to remember not to go without appreciation for those who sacrifice greatly and are truly overlooked and "unappreciated" volunteers!
Also, you said it is a personal choice, therefore they don't need to be paid more. Well…it's a personal choice for you as well to NOT be married or have dependants. Those allowances are available to you when you are ready to have your family and I am sure you will be thankful they are there. BAH is for housing…the housing you need as a single person is smaller than the housing you would need for a family. Therefore, BAH is higher to accomodate the need for extra square footage in your home.
lol i dont think its his choice not to be married , with his attitude towards families.
Thanks Teddi, can't expalin it better. I have seen single military living in a 4 bedroom, WOW!!!! It is their choice…. SO is the choice of military families with dependents. Just simple math; single military no BAH vs Married military with 1 or 2 kids; which household do you think spends more??????????
My husband's recruiter actually told us that he'd get paid more money if we got married (we were dating/engaged when he joined). I'm assuming he was just trying to make BAH sound better though, haha!
LMAO.. yeah, Recruiters will tell you ANYTHING to get you to join. Now you do get paid a little more when you PCS cause they wont pay for a GF to PCS.
getting married isnt going to get you anymore money..its just going to get your "bah" faster to you if your new to the game, Dont listen to ANYTHING a recruiter tells you either go talk to military members or even get on here to get the real talk about the navy..i can only speak for them but im probable sure all military is all the same..
Hello i just have one question my child deploy next week and it has been 3 weeks she have not gotten paid yet could some one tell me whats going on.
Whenever a military member does not get paid, the first place to look is their LES, which can be viewed via the MyPay system. What does the LES say? If the LES says that there was pay due, then she needs to talk to finance. (It is called different things in difference branches.) The last two military pay days were 1 March and 15 March.
When will we get pay it has been 3 weeks
Having tons of kids or getting married is a personal decision- no one is going to pay you for poor judgment.
Having one child is a poor choice or personal decision, if that's the case, lets ask your mom how she feels…..
how is having a child, in any way shape or form, poor judgement?
Are you then saying getting married or having children is poor judgement? Let me just give an example or how incredible short sighted that is….. Lets say a very good educated woman (like myself) was married for 18 years, she had 6 very awesome, Christian, homeschooled children (all extremely advanced academically, I am very proud to say :)) …. all very well provided for, her spouse eventually becomes mentally ill, and starts violently abusing her and the children, ends up disabling her… she divorces of course and of course moves on with her life… A wonderful, honorable service man comes along, falls in love with her and the children who have been through hell and asks to marry her and create a better life for her and these 6 awesome children…. So your saying that this man makes a poor choice by falling in love and giving 7 other people the chance at true safe, happy life for the first time in their lives?…… Here is a HUGE flaw in your theory… The compensation is miniscule….. So to have 1 dependents or 7,8 or 12 dependents… doesn't increase the payments percentage respective to number of household members…. The service member is now more of a HERO than you could ever wish to be… not only has he sacrificed his life for his country but now he has sacrificed his financial stability to better the future of 7 people other than himself, sacrificing himself once again… Something people with your inhumane view would never do! Apparently your confused with the difference between poor choice and selfishness…. One who chooses the path of caring for others before himself, is not SELFISH as perhaps people with the same opinion as yourself!!!!….. Perhaps you should be more open to individual situation rather than generalizing ….. :) Have a blessed day!
Why all the complaints about just married and/or having dependants getting BAH??? You get the same BAH if your single and a certain rate. My husband is an E5, married and has two children and gets the same BAH as his friend who is an E5 not married and no children. You want the allowance then either find someone who will put up with your arrogance or actually do some work and bust your butt to make rank to get it! Stop complaining…BAH isn't new….been around for a long time.
Um, no different out here in civilian world. My husband started out in his state job as a grade 8 employee, changed jobs to a grade 12 which is the only thing that made a difference in pay rate. Beyond the years when he got a raise (and there were many when state employees got 0%) there was no bump in salary – not even when/because we had kids, or when I lost my job. This is the norm. If you can't figure out how to afford a spouse and/or kids, don't acquire them, lol.
Floretta, he also makes more as a civilian. If it weren't for BAH we'd be almost at poverty level. We make, with BAH, close to if not still less than what our civilian counterparts would make. No, you don't make more because you have kids, you make more because you're civilians. lol
You're right. Choice to have a family is not an employer's problem. The banker doesn't make more money because he has a family. The military gives money (IE:housing) once a service member has dependents. I don't know any employer that pays simply for dependents. That said, since base pay can be lower, other benefits are in place to compensate, such as housing allowance, commissary & Exchange privileges, & mostly free medical. And, service members who deploy receive extra compensation for that (hazardous duty & family separation pay)-no different than some other jobs (DEA, CIA, FBI, many SWAT teams & police personnel, firefighters, etc). Though, many civilian occupations pay better, they also have to pay health coverage, higher costing life insurance & retirement funds directly from their pay, where as these costs are minimal to service members. Military life isn't easy-I'm retired & a wife of a soldier over 20 years-but I do think we need to be rational & objective & see the big picture for what it is.
Being a civilian engaged, I can attest to healthcare costs. I have a $2500 deductible BEFORE my insurance rates kick in. AND I have to pay about $60 a month for this privilege. I'm still paying off bills from last year. Hell, a blood work visit cost me $800 out of pocket. Emergency room, $700. Dental, $3000!!! Fiance goes to the Dr for every little sniffle. I have to be really ill for it to make sense to see a Dr. I can say i'm looking forward to Tricare.
You've been misinformed about the pay and benefits system, but you can access the housing allowance charts at military.com which will show you what each service member is entitled to based on rank, time in service, and whether or not there are dependents.
It's simple to me. If there were no dependents, we would have a bunch of unstable clowns running around. Family, overall, brings stability to an often stressful and chaotic profession. They effect the lives of their spouses, parents, and even the single Airman in more ways than can be accounted for. That little bit of extra pay is a tiny, indirect, thank you from the Government and U.S. citizens for making it possible for us to Super Power. If pay is your concern, you are in the wrong profession. Get out, then let us know how much you miss your without dependents rate. Not trying to be rude, but I've done my circle. At ten days old I moved with my dad to Osan AB, Korea. Thirty-one years later, I'm back at Osan AB. My dependents back home, you better believe, make me a better Airman. They make me make better Airmen. And they make the military a better military.
BAH is meant to cover the cost of your off base housing. As a single sailor you would only need a 1 bedroom, which is substantially cheaper than if you have dependents and need a 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom. The increase in BAH does not equate to extra spending money in your pocket, it just means we can afford the 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom which can cost anywhere from $100 to $500 more than the single bedroom. And if you have children there are actual laws dictating how many people you can have living in a home per bedroom. I heard that if you live on base you don't get the BAH listed on your LES so that family would qualify for say WIC or school lunches where as the same family living off base with their BAH listed would not. I find that irritating.
That is not always the case. My sister is a mother of 3, pregnant with her 4th child. They were getting BAH & Wic when they lived off post. However the BAH they recieved wasn't enough for a home to fit such a large family so the choice was made to get military houseing. Living on post she can still recieve WIC and food stamps. Our soldiers make barely enogh to get by and if they have more than 1 child even BAH isn't enough to comfortably support a family.
Even if one lives on base (or in the barracks for that matter), he still gets BAH. The pay comes right back out before you see your check, but it's authorized pay nonetheless.
WIC is based only on your base pay, WIC has nothing to do with your non-taxable BAH (Basic allowance for housing- where is this BHA coming from??) or BAS (basic allowance for sustance…food). I’m a single mom and don’t qualify for WIC. I would only qualify if I married an unemployed civilian. make sure you know what the qualifications are for a handout…
I think if someone is making more money because of COLA and BAH because of dependents they should be happy that the government is helping them with this money ontop of a pretty substantial paycheck to begin with. Wal mart wont give you a raise bc of children. Its very comparible to welfare but you are actually working for it and risking your life. but as for pay raise wise its very close. Just be grateful and learn to budget is you decide to have children
One thing we are forgetting is that the Military does not pay for over time or holiday pay as in Civilian jobs, Our soldiers dont work 9-5, 7-3, or 11-7…many times they are leaving at 4-5 am just to come home at the latest, 6-8 pm. Not only that they have WLC and FTX days that require them to work for days on end, basically around the clock. No over time pay. So I agree that the pay and benefits are compensatory to what they do, my husband actually all together gets paid less that what he would be as a civilian with his job title and experience, dont believe me, look up Logitics Specialist with 5 years experience. Every job has its ups and downs and benefits and bonuses.
Could you point me to an article that discusses BAH while serving an unaccompanied tour! A friend of mine says that we’d get BAH for our current base, and I say we’d get it for where we decide to live. I’m planning to move closer to my family, which is not near our current base. Thanks in advance!
If you go to finance before the tour and change your zip code for BAH for where you will be staying and have them put it in the orders you will get if for where you move. If not, it will stay set for the current post rate. And what Kate said.
Great question, Anna-Marie. According to the Office of the Secretary of Defense,
"If a member is serving an UNACCOMPANIED overseas tour, the member is eligible for BAH at the "with dependents" rate, based on the dependent's US residence ZIP Code,"
You can find this reference here: http://militarypay.defense.gov/pay/bah/02_types.h…
I hope this helps!
Bah shouldnt depend on if your married or not. There’s plenty of military guys and I’m sure equal amount of girls that just get hitched for the bah or have contract marriages plus once you reach E5 you can have geo bachelor bah. Which were I’m at is only a $100 difference and those ppl earn it just as much as somebody that married. There’s plenty of single guys that have familys or dependents/kids to provide for that aren’t married that deserve to rate bah. Oh and you can rate bah if your married living in the barracks. My ex did for three almost 4 years. I think they should just have one pay and have bah and bas added into your basic. That would keep the military divorce rate down too.
I am AD and my husband is in the Guard. I currently get w/ dependent BAH rate. When he deploys for 6 months what will our BAH be? Do we both get single rate?
Kinda Depends, ya'll got kids if so one gets with dependents one single
if no kids both single
if 2 kids with moms name on birth cert and not husbands, and 2nd Kid with Dads name on birth cert and not moms both get with dependents providing non named parent has not adopted, if both parents names on birth certs for multiple kids still one gets with deps on without
I am currently on an unaccompanied tour receiving BAH for FL. I got 4 dependents and my wife is planning to visit me for about 45 days, now one of my superiors is planning to STOP my BAH entitlements, not just the FSA, if she stays for over 30 days. He says is in the regulation but I couldn't find it, I think he's wrong, how about the rest of my dependents living at the house? any suggestions?
I know this is a little late but your superiors is trippin. I would just ask them where in the regs does it state that? Then tell them you go ask IG to look it up for you that will put a stop to that. It doesn't matter where your family goes you still get BAH for your current duty station or if you pcs and deployed w/ in 12 months of arrival you can get get BAH where your family is located. Trust me I know it happend to me I got BAH for CA when I deployed from AL. HUGE difference all back payed and command reprimanded on rear D. That is poor command FIGHT for your family.
A member assigned to a PDS outside CONUS and authorized BAH on behalf of dependents residing separately from the member in the United States, is entitled to that allowance through the day before the day one or more command or noncommand sponsored dependents arrive at the member’s overseas location to establish a residence. This does not apply when dependents establish a residence in the vicinity of the member’s PDS outside CONUS if the primary residence of the remaining dependents is in the United States and the member is entitled to BAH on behalf of those dependents.
4. In instances of multiple dependent location, the member will designated the primary residence of dependents. Rate for BAH will be based on this primary residence.
5. Commanding officers will review each case on its own merits; they will encourage members to terminate their family-type quarters when it becomes apparent that dependents will not return.
+6. If the dependents are OCONUS (does not include Alaska and Hawaii), the TDY location must be used to pay BAH. If dependents are CONUS, the BAH entitlement will continue to be the dependents’ location until the member reports to the first duty station other than for training. This note only applies to new accessions.
+7. If the member is authorized to move the family to a designated place, BAH will be paid on the dependents location. For payment of BAH at the old station rate, see paragraph 260107.
here ya go this is from the web site http://comptroller.defense.gov/fmr/07a/07aarch/07…
anything and everything you will ever want to know about BAH. hope this helps if you don't set up house then they have to pay at current location the spouse lives at. If you do set up house for more then 30 days then the commander at his discretion can change your BAH to the rate you are currently. it could be more money or less money depending on cost of living.
my daughter husband is not and have not send her bah in two months what can i do or she can do to get her money to live on hes in san diego and he left her here with me but correct all the income he is in th navy on the carl vinson
Ma'am, you might find more information about required family support in this article: http://paycheck-chronicles.military.com/2011/03/3… If she intends to divorce him, her best bet is start the separation proceedings and get a court order for support. Otherwise, she should inform him that she intends to contact his commander regarding non-support. Most commanders frown on sailors who don't support their families.
Good luck to you.
I have read all the comments and a lot them raise great points. I was once married so I have seen both sides of the coin. I will only point out one aspect of entitlements and that's BAH. I am greatly disappointed in how the system applies dependent rate vs single rate BAH. I am a 19 year E-7 living in Northern California. My single rate BAH is less than a E-5 of 5 years with Dependents, that's two ranks below me with less service time and he still gets payed more. Does anyone else see something wrong with that picture? Some people in this forum explain how it is fair for the military to compensate individuals for having families vs single individuals and people should stop complaining. Really? Remember it doesn't matter if you have one dependent or fifty dependents you only get one dependent rate. Which begs the question why have separate compensation in the first place. Yes I'll jump on the band wagon. Having dependents is a personal choice. The military should not carry the burden of compensation because a person chooses to incur expenses due to him or her aquiring a soulmate or dependents. Having to pack up and leave every time a member relocates is tough, but hey we all do it and that again is a personal choice you got into and knew you were making from the start. Just to give you and example of what I'm talking about here are BAH figures for Yuba city California: E-5 w/dependents – $1500; E-7 without dependents – $1293.00 Don't trust my figures? look them up. So rather than rant and rave aimlessly, I propose the following solution. If the DoD refuses to fix this; and they probably won't, I say the adjustment should be made to allow the higher rank's entitlement to remain higher than the one rank below it. Ex. an E-6's dependent rate BAH entitlement should never be higher than a single E-7's rate etc. I strongly feel BAH should be fair across the board. No adjustments should be made for dependents. Just like alot of other choices in life, the member should eat the cost, not the DoD.
My fiancee deployed again to Afghanistan Nov 1. Is missing our child's birth by 27 days. Since we are not married do I need to provide a paternity test or court order stating that he is in fact the father, or will the birth certificate with his name on it be sufficient? Next question, will he get BAH with depn since he is deployed and our child cannot reside with him? Thank You.
Since you are not married and he does not have full custody of the child you will not receive BAH until the time you sign over at least 51% custody to him or get married.
um you're an idiot. . . you DO get paid more money to have a family. because if you are a junior enlisted member such as myself, you do not collect bah and you make less. do your research and maybe you should've joined the military before you started talking this bs that you clearly have no idea what you're talking about.
Af=Cop actually NO… you have the ability to live off post and provide housing for you and a family as a junior enlisted which..hey guess what…COSTS MORE MONEY then living in barracks which is why you would get BAH. So while you get a bump in pay it all goes out the window for living costs…zero net gain. Oh wait…you're living on post..nope…no more money in your paycheck. Oh and grow up, act like an adult, and realize that for everyone BUT junior enlisted this applies in every situation.
If a military couple has a child but are not married how does the BAH work. We are both E4 and I get BAH with dependant but will he also be able to collect BAH single or will he have to reside in a barracks or on a ship? Also How does family seperation pay work? We live in different states.
Will the military help pay for your first child? The father is in the Army.
More money is more money, whether or not you call it BAH/COLA/etc…
Civilian employers won't pay you more to have kids or get a spouse-the most you'll get is a handshake from the boss and some time off work for the wedding/honeymoon/maternity leave. If you have a nice boss and cool co-workers, you may even get a card or cake, but no salary increase.
It's not a salary increase. The only way you get it is if you live off base that's what BAH is. The only way you can live off base is if you are A. married or B. a high enough rank where it is allowed. You do NOT get more money per child you have.
Also…for your information. The only reason they get BAH (housing allowance) is bc they pay you like shit anyways. My husband makes less than min. wage with just his base pay. And works I promise you way more hours than 8 hours a day. Let's think for a sec…If you we're over seas defending your country would you want to also have to worry about whether your family had enough money for a place to live back home?? No you would not. They deserve to get BAH.
Joe, I have to agree with you. The married person is receiving more compensation than a single person based on nothing related to job performance. The Government would be first to pounce on a civilian employer who tried this but I guess it's "Do as I say and not as I do." It's one of the reasons I left the military.
My husband is in the AF and just recently has been sent on an unaccompanied tour to Korea. We were based in Minot, ND before hand and we had his orders changed to show that I have been relocated to CA. Not only did he have me put on his orders that I was relocated but we had to get them amended so that we would get CA BAH. We were informed that we would be getting DLA for our move and that we would also be getting BAH for CA. When we got here and looked at his bank account we noticed that we had only gotten BAH for Minot. My husband called and spoke with financing in Minot and they informed him to talk to financing in Korea. When he got to Korea they told him because the AF did not pay for our move to CA that we would not be getting BAH for CA. Though if we wanted BAH for CA we would have to give up our follow on to Germany. So now I'm in CA living off of my parents because I currently can not afford a place of my own, even though we were told emphatically told that we would be getting BAH for CA. I'm upset with getting DLA because it took us a 3 days longer to move here and we ended up spending far more money then we expected. Not to mention we were also told that as long as we save all of our receipts from our trip that the AF would reimbursed. I will settle for DLA because I have no choice, but this BAH part is BS. I have to say you've got to love the military for all the abbreviations.
Author is 100% correct…Base pay is base pay. It will only change when you are promoted or lose rank or at the annual pay adjustments. PERIOD. Allowances will change based on duty assignment and family status.
Whether you agree or don't agree isn't the question. Your overall paycheck bottom line will change, but BASE PAY remains the same no matter your family status.
Wow! I can't believe that this topic is even being argued. But what worries me more is that an E-7 with 19 years in service couldn't explain why things are the way they are and also disagreed with it. That tells me that there is seriously something wrong with the promotion system in the military. So for all you guys that say it is unfair and that more money is more money no matter what. Here is the simple break down.
Single E4 vs Married E4
Single E4 lives in the barracks and does not half to come out of pocket to pay for it. This includes free electrify and water. He may not want to live in the barracks but he does not have a choice that is where he will stay and that is what the army is paying for. Did you think that staying in the barracks was free. No the army is footing the bill for that. Advantages you can leave everything that uses electricity on all day and all night and not have to worry about paying the electric bill. You can also use as many gallons of water as you want and not have to pay for that.
Now lets talk about the Married E-4. He CANNOT stay in the barracks with his family. The army does not allow it. So he is given two choices 1) he can apply to on post housing where he will receive BAH but they will take every bit of it back meaning it will not ever hit his bank account. Advantages he still will receive free electricity and water. He can use all he likes of either. OR 2) he can go off-post and find an apartment or house and he will receive BAH that will hit his bank account. But he will use that money to pay for his rent/mortgage. Advantages he now has a choice in where him and his family are going to live. But he better be smart and make sure he doesn't pick a place that cost more than the army is going to pay for or he is going to have to pay the difference out of pocket. Disadvantages he is now responsible for his electricity and water. He does not get to use all he likes unless he is willing to pay for it. If he was smart then he picked a place that cost a few hundred dollars less than what the army pays for so he could offset the cost of the electricity and water. Majority of the time he is coming out of pocket to cover some electricity and water cost.
In all cases the army is footing the bill by erasing the housing cost for its soldiers.
Now lets move on to BAS. Everyone Married or Single receives BAS. The only difference is that if you SINGLE they will take the majority of it back. Why? Cause you are suppose to eat in the DFAC. Don't like it. Tough those are the rules. Advantage for the single soldier is that you will actually get to keep a small portion of your BAS. The Married Soldier receives the same amount of BAS that a single soldier does but he gets to keep it all and spend it on eating where ever he chooses. Reality of that is he will more than likely spend it on feeding his family. If he goes to the DFAC then he is suppose to pay. However the advantage here still goes to the single soldier because it takes a lot more than what BAS pays for the married soldier to feed himself and his family. The BAS is for the soldier only. Hence the army is yet again footing the bill to feed its soldiers. The personal choice of the soldier to acquire a family means he has to come out of pocket to feed them. And in case you have caught on by now "out of pocket" refers to base pay.
Now lets move on to the topic of FSH. Single E4 when deployed has to move all of his stuff out of the barracks and put it in storage to include his vehicle if he has one. Guess what the army is going to pay to store those things while your gone. So you can think of that as your form of FSH. Married E4 doesn't need to worry about storage because he has a place to keep his things and someone to watch them already. So they should not even receive FSH right? Wrong. Now that the soldier is deployed the wife has to take on all those responsibilities that would have other wise been done by the soldier. Reality is they usually can't do all those things So they have to hire people. Hence to reason for the FSH. If your single you should not be complaining about this because the army is paying for you stuff to be stored an expense that they forced upon you. so why shouldn't they be paying for the expense's that they forced upon the married soldier.
By now I believe I have pretty much proven that yes base pay is base pay PERIOD. So now that both the single soldier and the married soldier are left with just there base pay lets address this personal choice argument a little more.
While the single soldier can go out and pretty much do whatever he wants to with his base pay the married soldier no longer has that option. His personal choice to get married means that he is using all his base pay to cover the cost of a family. See that he is having to use his base pay to cover the cost of his personal choices after all.
any questions
I have just posted a link to the rules and regulations of BAH. I have read most of them and understand that my daughter and her husband are entitled to BAH and FSA They should not have to provide anymore information then proof of marriage and her SSN. This has been provided more then once and yet she has been force to live with out BAH while her husband is in japan. This has been going on now since july of 2011. What i Need is a person or department that i can get to help me . He tried in japan now 3 times to get this worked out with no luck. thanks for any help you can give us.
Thank you Randall Shumate, I was going to say about the same thing but not as PC.
My 2 cents comes out though.. You people need to learn how to manage your own finances I do just fine w/dependants. My friend same rank LESS time in service makes almost 1k more than me he has a roomate and lives off post. seems he knows what he is doing with his money.
My Grandoughter has triplet's (2- boys and one girl) born Oct 24 2011. She is living with her parents, and has not receaved anything from her husband. He is in the army,and now is asking for a devorce. She is taking care of the three babies without any money from her husband????
If your granddaughter is not receiving support and he is asking for a divorce, your granddaughter should immediately pursue a legal separation agreement that includes child support provisions. This needs to be done through the regular, civilian court system.
The military is unique because it is the only employer who gets involved in matters of family support, and even then it only does so until there is an appropriate civilian agreement. Most child support agreements require more support than the minimum guidelines suggested by the military. There is much more information in this article about required family support. http://paycheck-chronicles.military.com/2011/03/3…
Good luck to her!
Enter text rightCall his commander . Bet you she will get money ASAP here!
I just got married so that we could make more $$$, so it is ridiculous to argue that military do not receive more $$$ for having dependents. As an anarchist and radical feminist, I see absolutely no reason to have the government recognize my relationship with my significant other – - EXCEPT for the $$$ reason that the military offers. My husband is going to Afghanistan for a year deployment, and this is his second year-long deployment to Afghanistan. We calculated he will earn $14,000 more dollars during his deployment, just because we went to the courthouse and got married. Sorry but that is a JOKE! I make more $$$ than my husband but why the hell shouldn't he get the extra money, especially since we have lived with each other and been in a monogamous relationship for the last 10 yrs? Can you imagine how much more $$$ he would have made during that time if he were married??? It'd be at least $60,000. With all this said, the military should NOT pay members just for being married. I can tell you I am sure as hell not "dependent" on him or anyone else.
Steph, I'm very curious where you live if getting married is increasing your husband's income that much.. Your husband's BAH will go from without dependents to with dependents, and he will receive Family Separation when he is deployed, but I can't figure how that will add up to $14,000 over one year. I must be missing some other benefit that you're including in your calculations. Please share so I can learn more. Perhaps you are talking about the tax benefit of being married? That, of course, isn't a military thing but a federal government issue. I would love to know because I am always finding out new things that I've never heard before.
she probably adding in that he gets to keep BAH when deployed. If he didnt have dependents his stuff would go into storage and BAH would stop wouldn't it?
I don't think so. I believe that if you are drawing BAH prior to a deployment, you can continue to draw BAH during deployment. Readers?
Before we were married, my husband deployed to Iraq, Army made him put everything into storage and he lost his BAH for the year he was there. To top it all off they lost every single glass item he owned, mirrors, dinnerware, patio table etc….that was a fun claim when they had to deliver everything when he came back.
Sep. Pay, hostile fire pay, per diem, bah, bas, and base pay add up while deployed not to mention you get paid for the travel there and back. On top of that its all nontaxable
Good for you Steph. My daughter was also NEVER dependent on another person. She did not get married for more money. But unfortunately he did. and he would not get a divorce due to the more money until he came back this Mrch from deployment due to some bills he racked up on his own. They did not even live together but three weeks of their 18 month marriage and now he gets all of her things since she died, including the house she owned before marriage. Makes me so sad, have lost my daughter and now all of her things.
I actually had kind of a personal/sensitive question about all of this if you had any free time to email me… I would really appreciate it.
If you are single and have lived in the barracks for 6 years and were unable to have your property moved from your parents house when first enlisting will the Army pay for moving your property from your home on record when you are eligible to move out of barracks?
My daughter died she was married to an Air Force person for 18 months. They lived together only three weeks of their marriage. She knew it was a mistake from the beginning. She wanted a divorce, he convinced her dur to the income he would get being married as he had a couple heavfty bills to pay . He even filed less than a year after getting married then dropped the divorce after he found out about the fact that he would get a “bonus” how she put it when he got back from being deployed and more if they stayed married. He was originally to be deployed 6 weeks after they got married it ended up he wasn’t until 13 months after. Now that she is gone, legally he gets all of her things including a home she owned and fixed up by herself prior to their getting married. My point being he stayed married for the MONEY HE COULD MAKE from the military…anything we can do about this. He is not good with money. Their joint account had over $3200. WHEN HE RETURNED YET HE IS TELLING EVERYONE HE NEED MONEY TO PAY THE FUNERAL COSTS OF $2300. He is a liar and now a thief in my mind.
They were married, there is nothing you can do. It may not have been as bad as she made it seem. I noticed a lot of military wives get the sames feeling when they get stationed somewhere away from their family. Best thing to do is leave it alone. Im sure he is grieving as well. He is serving his country and Im sure he has a lot on his mind.
if you join the army will they just let you stay on base or will you have to go to war?
My chids mother has been deployed ranked E-6 with 12years she left us with no money and were not married but I have sole custody of my child do i get support and if so how much.
Mark, child support is determined by your local courts. You will have to file a case for child support. The local courthouse can help you. Technically, this is not a military matter. However, most commanders frown upon people leaving their children without support. Please, please take the necessary steps to get child support for your child! Good luck to you!
You will also want to mention that since they are not married a paternity test will be required (unless one is already done for the child to be in DEERS) and that since she is deployed it will be near impossible to bring a case to court until she comes home.
You must go to court and get the judge to make an official judgement against her. Then it will come right out of her pay into your pocket :) You might get back pay also. Good luck!
I have a daughter that i'm trying to claim for my dependent pay, and I was wondering if you could tell me about alittle on the process i need to go through in order to recieve dependent pay.
Dear HASailor, There is no such thing as dependent pay. However, you may be eligible for some variety of Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) based upon her dependency and/or a court ordered child support agreement.
First things first, though: you need to register her in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). The location of the DEERS office is different at each base. You will need her birth certificate. I believe that if you are not married to her mother, you will also require a paternity test. Once she is in DEERS, you need to enroll her in Tricare so that she can be covered by Tricare's health coverage. There is no cost to you for her Tricare coverage.
Once you have her in DEERS, you can begin the process of seeing if you are eligibile for any type of BAH.
MADE E-5 ON THE MARCH EXAM. WHEN SHOULD I EXPECT TO START GETTING PAID?
My granddaughter father called my daughter to tell her that she's very stupid. That she will only receive the $166.00 per month of his base pay. He goes on to tell her that he receives BAH and she wont get a penny of that money. Question is that true? if not how can she receive additional child support? Yes, she receives support via the court system the monthly $166.00 per month. Please advise. thank you
Meme, child support is not a military issue. If there is a court order for child support, that is how much is paid. If your daughter thinks that she should receive more child support, then she needs to ask the court to review the child support calculations. The court may or may not choose to include his BAH in the support calculations. However, that is for the court to decide.
first your daughter can get her own income and benifits by having her own employment.
Housing for mitary can be on ship base or off.
If you live on base you would not receive allowance.
If you do not live with family you would not receive a dependant living allowance.
Child support needs to be set by your court and it is a percent of income. The law is 25 % of net pay for one dependant- 30% for more then one child.
Extra-ordinary monies as investment savings may be used in reducing this.
and grandma- he sounds like an ass of a guy, military or not. Please help you daughter respect his right as a dad and forget about him as a person of interest otherwise. god speed………
I have a question . For the past 7 months I have been taking care of a service members kids because she is over seas in an unaccompanied tour we had a verbal agreement that she would give me the child support money . Well she has only been giving me 400 a month for me taking care of both her children 24/7 and keeps saying that she cant get the kids dad to pay his portion of child support . However she is getting bah and fam sep and she is keeping it all . Should she be sending any of that money to her kids since the dad isnt giving anything , or is it ok for her just to send 400 a month ? I though bah was for the family in the states to have a place to live ?
You have choices. One: Remind her that her problem is not your problem and if she does not see fit to hand over the full bah (yes, it is to maintain a household while they are away) you can no longer afford to care for her kids. Or, you can provide a copy of the agreement/custody she signed, when you took the kids, to her commander. Or, you can pettition the courts to issue an order and the army finance office will start the payments going directly to you, involuntarily. It is solely up to her to deal with her ex. NOT YOUR PROBLEM. She may think that since you are such a good person that you won't do anything to embarrass her but she has done that to herself already by not caring enough for her kids to sacrifice luxuries. She DOES NOT represent the military. There are statutes in the Uniform Code of Military Justice about this. http://law.justia.com/cfr/title32/32-3.1.1.6.30.h… You might do well by reminding her of these military laws.
Also, for her info, there is a childcare subsidy program she can apply for thru GSA. army.childcare@gsa.gov which could possibly help depending on what you need. And JAG (army lawyers) can help her seek payment from the ex.
Do you know if they would make her back pay since she is picking up her kids mid march ? Or am I just going to basically have to take a loss for the last seven months ?
Monica, you are asking a question that is way beyond my knowledge. I would suggest that you retain a lawyer, immediately, and also contact her chain of command and make them aware of the situation. Good luck to you!
My husband is a AGR in the Airforce serving on his 22 year and E7 and getting wrong pay. His pay is 4365 basic pay.Should he not get 4487?