Military Families
TBLilyRose
member
WIC ?
TBLilyRose
member
I have a friend stationed here in CT who applied for WIC and was denied (family of 3). It seems several other people of the same rate, same size family, etc, have qualified, though. Her DH is E5 and has 8 years in but they told them he makes $3,000 too much/year. IIRC when DS was born the visiting nurse told us being E5 qualified us for WIC (but we never ended up applying). Anyone have any idea??
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Re: WIC ?
WIC goes by income level, not rank. My husband's E4 and we still got denied because of how much he makes. Military status has nothing to do with it, its all about how much the gross yearly income is.
Sucks doesnt it?
To be eligible for WIC on the basis of income, applicants' gross income combined with the number of people within the household. While most states use the maximum guidlines (185% of the US Poverty Levels), they can set lower limits, depending on the state's budgetary issues.
https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/howtoapply/incomeguidelines09-10.htm
DS-11 years, DD-3 years, DS-born 9/15/10, DD-9/09/11
You're just giving birth now, you're not mother Earth now
As in the PP rank is not the determining factor it is income. Honestly the threshold is so low that it is unfair to those families who can really use the extra help. But as always the same thing goes for daycare and school lunches it is all about income.
I have a friend whose DH is a E5 with 6 yrs in and they missed the cut off by a few thousand. She does use the Target Up and Up brand since she said it has the same exact ingredients as SImilac. She could not breastfeed.
Good Luck.
I know it's not rank, I just included it so you'd have an idea what his income is. Thanks for the input. I guess I'm just still confused why some get it and others don't!
And I agree that it sucks military even have to qualify at all.
Just because a person decided to make the military their career choice doesn't mean they should automatically qualify for services that would benefit other less fortunate families. I've said it before on here in a related post, if you need the assistance by all means please use it to the fullest extent but if you don't you're just looking to cut your budget down remind yourself you're taking away from another family who could use.
Military families should be no different than any other family in this case. They should be responsible enough to budget properly and live within their means. If they can't afford the basic necessities such as food and diapers for their children then they should turn to public assistance programs and not simply because they're wearing a uniform.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that we are entitled to WIC simply because we are Military, but being Military we struggle with money on a regular basis.
A lot of things come up for us on top of the regular things every American family has to deal with.
It's a shame that our Military members are so underpaid and under appreciated.
ETA: I have selective vision...I completely missed the fact that she specifically said we shouldn't have to qualify at all...
I retract my statement.
I heart you.
?? All I meant by my comment is that it sucks that men and women who sign up to put their lives on the line for our country get paid an income that qualifies them to receive public assistance. We do get great benefits, I'm not complaining at all, but it sure would be great if our government could afford to pay their service members even better!
I can't help at times feeling a little resentful that I have friends who play on the computer 9-5 and make 6 figures while DH and so many of our friends spend months away from home in dangerous situations, but obviously we all knew what we were getting into.
We never applied for WIC since I EBF but I also can see families whose LOs have to be on special formula really benefiting from it because that ish is costly! I don't think a lot of women necessarily get pregnant thinking their baby might have sensitivities/allergies/AR and need the most expensive formula on the market.
The vast majority (I won't say "all" because I have never looked into it closely) would NOT qualify if WIC took tax-free allowances (BAH, BAS, etc) into account when calculating WIC qualifications.
BAH and BAS are benefits that are money in our pocket. Very few jobs will allot their compensation into categories the way the military does - but the $2000/month that my DH recieves for BAH (tax free - which makes it even more valuable), is income nomatter how you slice it. Some MMs are getting WIC and have more de-facto income than other civilians who are declaring all income.
If WIC made military members declare ALL income - taxed and tax-free - most would not qualify. So the statement of how much of a travesty it is for MMs to qualify for WIC is a little silly. Most MMs qualify because they are lucky that the program doesn't look more closely at our cash flow.
Married 6/28/03
Kate ~ 7/3/09 *** Connor ~ 11/11/10
4 miscarriages: 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014
*~*~*~*~*
No more TTC for us. We are done, and at peace, as a family of 4.
"Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” — Charles Dickens
Eh, I think I'm just not getting my point across clearly. All I meant was it'd be nice if our service men and women could make mucho moola for all they do but I'm not complaining for what we do get. I don't think anyone would complain if the government could afford to pay these guys an extra $10 or $20K a year!
Tough crowd! This may be the only group I've encountered who argues when someone says they should make more money for what they do.
so dont jump down my throat for mention that stuff costs a lot more then it should.I'm not being irresponsible for saying things are expensive. It was just a statment
Don't take this to sound snarky, but there's always the chance of becoming pregnant if you have sex, unless you're lacking essential organs. That's not to say IF isn't real but there are those instances (as you can attest to) that a person becomes that 0.000001% statistic that becomes pregnant while laboring under the assumption that they're infertile.
Anyway, back to the topic of the post...a poster made a very good point over on the MN board. Junior enlisted salaries aren't really meant to support multiple dependents. The salary is meant to support just the service member while he or she trains the first few years of their career and becomes established. In other words the focus for that service member should be their responsibilities in the military, not worrying about providing for his or her family. The poster also pointed out that there is a large jump from E5 to E6 in BAH rates, most likely because the military feels that this is the level at which a service member should start supporting a family, if they so choose.
If a junior enlisted makes the conscious decision to start a family knowing he or she will receive a lower amount of money to support this family then they really can't say they didn't know or it's such a disgrace that some families need to rely on public assistance programs. The military's policies are in place for a reason (this one being to discourage young families) whether or not the junior enlisted decides to take this into account when making his or her decision is on their shoulders.
I don't agree with this at all. They just get paid less because they're less qualified. Obviously, someone that's been in a job for 5 years should get paid more than someone that's been doing it for 6 months, or until they prove qualified for a promotion, just like any other job.
I have never seen so many young people get married and have kids, as I have in the military. I don't think anyone's trying to discourage that. They move you around so much that many people get married because they don't want to give up a relationship. Sure, they love each other, but had the guy not gotten orders to Japan (or whereever), maybe they'd have waited another 3 years to get married.
The pay is what it is. If you can't afford to live off base and make ends meet to feed your family, then maybe you should move on base and cut back on extras. It's all about budgeting and busting your butt for promotions.
BAS is never meant to support your dependants. It's only given to the service member. It doesn't go up if you get married or if you have a kid. However, BAH, OHA and COLA are. That's why there's a single and with dependant rate.
DS-11 years, DD-3 years, DS-born 9/15/10, DD-9/09/11
You're just giving birth now, you're not mother Earth now
Eh, I guess I don't feel like the military is any more underpaid than a lot of organizations. My husband makes well into the six figures as a military member and that doesn't even cover the free health insurance and education compensation. The Navy just paid for his Master's through Johns Hopkins, too.
I paid for my BA, M.Ed, and then get paid a fraction of what he does as a school counselor. The military has amazing opportunities IMO. Yea, you won't get rich, but you sure as heck can live well, get educated, and provide for your family just fine.
Married 6/28/03
Kate ~ 7/3/09 *** Connor ~ 11/11/10
4 miscarriages: 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014
*~*~*~*~*
No more TTC for us. We are done, and at peace, as a family of 4.
"Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” — Charles Dickens
This post made me wonder about junior enlisted salaries. I looked up some numbers. An unmarried Army E4 with less than four years in service, stationed at Fort Campbell, KY, makes approximately $33k/year (salary and BAH). If the same soldier were stationed in the DC area, s/he would be making about $41k. Considering an Army E4 can be as young as 21 or 22--IMO, that is pretty good money. Granted, at 22, I was single and supporting myself, not a family. I don't see the problem as being that the military doesn't pay well enough, but that the individual does not have sufficient experience to garner a higher salary. I dare say that a 22 year old E4 is doing better than his/her buddies at home who joined the work force right out of high school.
I'm sorry that you feel ganged up on though. Sure, I'd love for my DH to make more money. . . And maybe he would if he were in a civilian job, but for many reasons, he chose to stay in. (He made this decision before I met him, he's been in for 16 years.). I understand that you were just asking why things seemed unequal. You weren't expecting to be called into question.
Actually a lot of state assistance programs are beginning to count some of the non-taxed income. I know here in LA they include my BAH and BAS as income. They do not include the deployment pay but I think that is because there is some rule saying they can't. If my hubby re-enlists they count his re-up bonus for that month. Any pay that is not combat pay they count.