Rising food, housing costs hitting military families

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that he’s ordering measures to help military families struggling to manage rising housing and food prices, calling the costs of basic goods a “readiness issue” for the U.S. military.

Austin said he’s temporarily raising the payments troops receive in certain locations to help pay for off-base housing. That will apply in areas where rental costs have climbed 10 percent or more. He also said he’s directing aides to find ways to “strengthen food security across the force.”

“This is a readiness issue, and that’s why I’m focused on making sure that our service members and our families have what they need to thrive,” Austin said at the Pentagon.

Although the military has long had an issue with some service members struggling to make ends meet, accelerating U.S. inflation may be putting more military families in that category. Austin said the Pentagon will find a way to help service members connect to support programs.

The Pentagon’s move is another sign of the toll rising prices are taking on Americans. The debate over inflation — and whether it’s “transitory” or becoming entrenched — has affected debate over President Joe Biden’s infrastructure legislation and who should be the next chief of the Federal Reserve.

Rising costs are hitting American wallets despite recent wage increases, and come after federal pandemic relief expired for about 7.5 million people. Inflation-adjusted average hourly earnings in October were 1.2 percent lower than a year earlier.