Congress Finalizes Defense Spending Bill with Landmark Support for Military Families
December 9, 2024
ALEXANDRIA, VA–The National Military Family Association (NMFA), a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening military families, is pleased that the House and Senate have come together to include important provisions enhancing military family quality of life in this year’s NDAA. Many of the Association’s advocacy efforts are reflected in the agreement, including increased pay for junior enlisted service members and support for affordable child care and spouse employment.
The FY 2025 NDAA agreement, finalized on December 7, offers a historic opportunity to put into action the first policy recommendations of the bipartisan House Armed Services Committee Quality of Life Panel. Several key provisions in the legislation include:
- Compensation boost: A 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted members and a 4.5% pay raise for all other servicemembers.
- Increased access to child care: Full funding for child care fee assistance programs and increase in Department of Defense (DoD) child care center staff pay to be competitive with private industry.
- Spouse support: Extends DoD’s authority to fill open civilian positions with qualified military spouses and expands access to DoD child care for military spouses seeking employment.
- Expanded eligibility for the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA): An eligibility increase from 150% to 200% of federal poverty guidelines to make sure more military families who need support making ends meet are getting it.
The Quality of Life Panel was established in 2023 to address what its members recognized as serious readiness issues impacting the future of a strong, all-volunteer force: pay, housing, spousal support, child care, and healthcare. NMFA presented recommendations to the Quality of Life panel alongside our partner organizations and brought families to Capitol Hill to speak with the panel directly about the challenges they’ve faced as a result of military life.
“Service shouldn’t cost more. Military families come to us every day looking for help solving problems they shouldn’t have in the first place,” said Besa Pinchotti, NMFA CEO. “We are pleased that Congress is taking much-needed action to show our service members that America has their back — just as they have ours.”
Service members are struggling under the high and rising cost of living. Compensation for junior enlisted members has not kept pace with inflation, and military families face food insecurity at staggering rates. Today, a quarter of military families report that they struggle to put food on the table for their kids. Military families’ household income lags that of their civilian counterparts in large part due to the chronic, high rates of military spouse unemployment. As families make military-mandated moves across the country and around the world, military spouses often shoulder the burden of child care. Distance from their families and support networks makes it hard to find accessible, affordable child care, and military spouses’ careers suffer.
The recommendations from the Quality of Life Panel incorporated into the FY 2025 NDAA are solutions military families need, but other critical recommendations were left out. The Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) remains below 100%, and the NDAA failed to include coverage for infertility care and IVF, which is standard with most civilian healthcare plans.
Military families count on their elected officials to solve these longstanding problems so that they can continue their service. NMFA will continue its advocacy work on these issues and thanks the Congressional allies who stand with our military families.
About NMFA
The National Military Family Association (NMFA) is the leading nonprofit dedicated to serving all military families. Since 1969, NMFA has worked with families to identify and solve the unique challenges of military life through advocacy and programs. NMFA provides scholarships for military spouses, camps for military kids, and programs for military teens. The Association’s research creates a better understanding of the experience of today's military families. NMFA serves the families of the currently serving, veteran, retired, wounded, or fallen members of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, and Commissioned Corps of the USPHS and NOAA. To learn more and get involved, visit www.MilitaryFamily.org
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2024_house_armed_services_report_v12-final.pdf
2021 FOOD SECURITY AMONG ACTIVE DUTY SPOUSES
