Image by Vladmir Solomyani from Unsplash
U.S. military members will enjoy more than a 3 percent increase in pay beginning Jan 1, 2020.
This pay raise comes as part of the 2020 military budget, which totaled to $738 billion. Military service member and federal civilian pay rates are raised by 3.1 percent under the auspices of the new budget. This year’s pay raise follows previous years raises, which consisted of a 2.4 percent increase in 2018 and a 2.6 percent increase last year.
The Department of Veteran Affairs will receive its largest funding boost in history, totaling to a 9 percent increase ($217 billion).
Yearly raises are usually planned by the Employment Cost Index, which measures gains in private-sector earnings and wages. The president, as well as Congress, can also decide to settle what the pay raise should be. The military pay calculation for 2021 will set to 3.0 percent, with President Trump and congressional leaders already opposing lower pay increases than the determined figure.
In the last decade, White House officials and military leaders have contended for salary raises under the expected increase in private-sector salaries to save money for different military focuses, like modernization and military equipment maintenance.
Though there is much speculative debate as what the extent of military pay raises should be, there is no doubt that increased compensation packages will make paying for bills a little easier for military members than last year.