Welfare for veterans: an army on short rations
20 The Welfare Inspector General of New York State made headlines recently with charges of widespread ineligibility among veterans receiving relief in New York City.1 Little notice, however, was taken of the plight of 15,000 veterans then receiving relief in the city, or of their dependents, together totaling almost 37,000 persons. Over 1,000 veterans, mostly of the Vietnam War, are currently applying for public as sistance in the city each month. Ex-service men are probably making their way to wel fare offices in proportionate numbers throughout the country, but precise data are not readily available because few states or localities keep statistics on veterans as such.
Poverty in the Army
An analysis is made of the extent and causes of poverty in the United States Army. Army estimates of the number and size of Army enlisted families by rank for February 1969 reveal the existence of 85,500 families of lower-ranking enlisted men, of whom 35,000 received income below the 1968 poverty line. Army-engendered family hardships appear most acute among soldiers from low-income or minority backgrounds, soldiers with excessively large families, and those convicted of disciplinary offenses. While inadequate compensation cre- ates demands for public assistance, families on military reservations are generally ineligible for such aid. Army poverty results from three factors: meager pay and a complex and con- fusing compensation system, a selective service system that drafts men with families, and the inability or unwillingness of the Army to grant hardship discharges to most soldiers with indigent families. The situation could be remedied by simplifying the manner in which soldiers are paid, increasing pay levels, deferring or exempting family men, broader use of hardship discharges, and better utilization of civilian welfare resources.
The Soviet Home Front, 1941-1945: A Social and Economic History of the USSR in World War II
List of tables and maps Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations and technical terms Part 1: On the Eve 1. Building Socialism 2. The Great Patriotic War 3. The State in Wartime Part 2: Soviet Society at War 4. Mobilisation 5. Subsistence and Survival 6. The Social Order Part 3: The Productive Effort 7. Fortress of the Rear 8. Labour: The 'Ultimate Bottleneck' 9. 'In Labour as in Combat' 10. Production: The Power of Victory 11. Planning: 'The Military-Economic Staff' Epilogue Tables Important dates References Maps Index