Show soldiers 9 allotment checks cheas help solve problem of home fr front ont army finance corps offers assistance to men in service As more and more husbands and fathers enter the armed forces the nation must assume the care of the soldiers soldier dependents no man it has be been n well said fights well when his heart is filled with anxiety about his loved ones th the e federal government is providing for the basic needs at least of millions of wives children and parents parent s 0 of f fighting me men n through pay allot allotment ment and family allowance checks sent out monthly to distribute the billions of dollars involved and to handle the many details of this vast affair the war department established the office of dependency benefits in october 1842 1942 by consolidating tour four separate agencies the navy has a similar service in the bureau of naval personnel pay allotment means simply that the soldier sends home a certain fixed part of his army pay every month he directs the army finance corps to deduct this amount from his salary and to remit it through the office of dependency benefits to any dependent he may send money to his wife and children parents or to a bank for deposit or to a life insurance company this allotment Is entirely voluntary and can be stopped any time or increased or decreased the only regulation Is that a man keep keel at least io 10 a month for his own needs soldier gives 22 a mouth month the family allowance Is a sum provided by the soldier and the government jointly the enlisted man gives 22 a month from his army pay and to this the government adds an amount that increases according to the number of dependents there are two classes of dependents pen dents A wife and children and B parents brothers and sisters and other relatives in special cases if a man wishes to provide tor for both class A and B dependents he must pay 27 a month otherwise his contribution is just 22 regardless of his irmy army pay grade all AH men are eligible for this family allowance excepting those above the rank of sergeant that Is those in the four lowest grades how much dependents can receive Is shown for typical cases by this summary abife A wife gets 50 a month A wife ind and one child get 62 A wife and two children get 72 there Is an additional allowance I 1 10 for each child over two wife and parents get 80 father and mother only 47 to be eligible tor for these benefits the relatives must meet certain requirements quire ments of the office the principal one being that they prove actual dependency they must have been supported at least in part by the soldier before he left for service in many cases this proof is difficult on the other hand in c ertain certain cases the enlisted man must pay his share ot of the allowance whether he wants to or not A wife can demand her allowance and a minor child may even a divor divorced cid woman may be entitled to payments if she had been receiving alimony dependents in class B can get an a allowance llo only it 11 the army man agrees to it in any case the family allowance sum begins to accrue the first of the month following 0 the month in which the man applies tor for it it that is it if he makes application in june the allowance begins to accumulate on the first of july and is paid after july 31 A so soldier idler may apply as soon as he Is on ac active tive duty that is as soon as he enters a camp or any army establishment under orders every enlisted man can provide for his family and relatives both through the family allowance and the pay allotment c channels han nels twenty million affected army nurses members of the army auxiliary corps and certain civilian employees of the war department may make use of the pay allotment system but only soldiers can obtain the benefits of thi the family allowance more than 20 million people are included in families of enlisted men As the army is to be increased to about 8 million by the end of the year many more wives and children will be left alone while many women are working in war plants and at othir other essential tasks while their husbands fight other wives cannot or should not leave their homes the family allowance authorized under the emens dependents Depender its allowance act of june 1942 Is the nucleus of home security during wartime I 1 A 2 1 0 I 1 10 A wherever they are soldiers lold lers must receive their pay regularly hen flere the lh men f t the th h engineering eigi regiment reel ment line ain tip op for their money at night while an n maneuvers mi neuTer in louisiana more mor thin than 2 million men me provide dle FT for their heir dependents through contributions from their salaries under the family allowance plan added to these benefits are the voluntary allotments thereby insuring the essentials of life to the soldiers family the office of dependency benefits malls out about 2 million family allowance checks a month at present this number will doubtless increase rapidly rabidly as fathers go to war about men have made pay allotments most of these probably are included in the family allowance figure too about 83 per cent of the armei ardys personnel are eligible for tle the family allowance benefit all men from buck privates to full generals may make pay allotments the director of the office points out that more than two thirds of the money disbursed by the office of dependency Delen dency benefits comes from army mens pay the ODB acts as a fiscal agent that Is a bank or currency exchange tor for soldiers one hundred per cent of the pay allotments and 45 per cent of the family allowances are deductions from soldiers salaries the rest represents the governments contribution to the family allowance or about one third of the total sum disbursed each month two billion dollars yearly m right now the office of dependency benefiting Benefit sis sending out money at the rate of 2 billion dollars a year to idt million dependents of soldiers every month more than avi 3 million checks go out ot to all parts of the nation from newark N J which la is headquarters since the office was organized last october it has disbursed some 19 million checks ten thousand clerks and a staff of army officers under direction of brig gen H R N gilbert labor at the tremendous clerical burden they are housed in an 18 story building the volume of mail has forced the newark postmaster to increase his staff by one sixth the mall mail room of the office handles pieces of incoming mall mail and pieces of outgoing mall mail every day this Is exclusive of checks which would bring the dally daily outgoing total to pieces ample machinery has been set up by the office of dependency benefits to handle the expected increase in re requests tor for family allow allowances ancen and allotments ol of pay to soldiers dependents pen dents which will result from the 7 3 service men stationed in remote parts of the world often have little opportunity to spend their salaries so co they send home larger sums under the pay il allotment method this finance corps officer Is handling for the bath lighter fighter group of north africa anticipated induction of more fathers and childless married men as the th he war progresses brig gen H N gilbert U S A director has announced noun ced even if the induction rate exceeds the present estimate of a day this will alu not throw the ODB machinery out of gear nor strain its capacity the director pointed out the original framework of the ODB was set up on a modern production line plan capable of rapid expansion and geared to handle a large volume of work with efficiency effi clency and speed the ODB now receives an average of family allowance applications a day and class E allotments ot of pay a day and Is processing those that are in order at a comparable rate the director stated men now going into the army are gi given venan an opportunity to apply tor for a family allowance at the reception center he said in order to get the application in as soon as possible since the family allowances begin to accrue the first of the next month after application and are due tor for payment at the end of that month to further save time men entering the service are advised to take with them such documents to support their applications as are necessary certified copy of marriage certificate and birth certificates of children and affidavits of dependency for fathers and mothers or minor brothers or sisters who are dependent upon them in the case of wives and children the family allowance is payable on proof of relationship only we have all heard that there are some people taking advantage of the family allotment no doubt there are it is practically unavoidable that a small number of wives parents and other relatives who are not entitled to support should be obtaining it these cases are b being el ing investigated however and rules are being tightened so ao that these thes leaks will be plugged in time on the other hand band it is inspiring ring to know that many dependents wives children fathers and mothers who are worthy of every as sl si stance are patriotically refusing aid here are a few typical letters A soldiers mother writes from michigan 1 the mother of this soldier did not expect pec any monthly allowance lot let my son hove have his full monthly payments which I 1 think hink he needs the government needs money too which we all know I 1 have a son on the larr farm yet I 1 ilan can depend on him and we wilt will do our bit here too goo all I 1 ask is to take care of a my son in the forces another mother says I 1 thank you very much for sending me the application for family allowance I 1 wish to say for the govern merit ment to take the money which I 1 should have from them and use it to help win this war and bring my two sons sale safe and to keep the vother r one from going thanking you very kindly from a divorced wife in arizona C omes comes this refusal to accept anything from her ex husband I 1 dont ask of private or the government any help I 1 did not ask for alimony when I 1 obtained my divorce but only custody of the children another mother came into the newark office and told the interviewer ive got a job and so I 1 stopped in to discontinue my family allowance my son arranged for it but I 1 wont need it any longer I 1 start work tomorrow i this widespread attitude of patriotic pride and unselfish desire to sacrifice goes tar far to counterbalance the chiselers and unworthy dependents the office of Depend dependence enc T benefits believes that it is pr providing ovidia basic security on the home front security tor for mary euen ellen who is 19 nd unafraid as she prepares tor for motherhood while her young husband is fighting to make sure there Is a tree free world for or his child to enter security for small jimmie whose big brother helped clothe him and get him book larnin 11 before he marched off to war |