pay more in childcare than they’d
make if Desirée joined the workforce.
That lack of a second income is a
big hit for the Mieirs. As a communi-
cations officer in the Navy, Dan makes
$34,279 a year before taxes. That’s just
under the national poverty level for
a family of six. The military does pay
for their housing, but the housing
allowance is treated as income, and
that additional “money” is often
enough to make a family ineligible for
federal food assistance known as the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), as is the case with
the Mieirs.
Enlisted service members do re-
ceive a food allowance, about $373
per month, but that sum is intended
for the member alone, not his or her
family, and it does not increase if one
has dependents.
At Dewey Elementary School,
which the Mieirs’ three eldest chil-
dren attend, Principal Tanya McMillin
sees food insecurity on the students’
faces every day. “We are 80 percentmilitary and 70 percent free and re-
duced lunch,” she says. “So, essen-
tially, members of our military are
paid so poorly they qualify for free
lunch and breakfast.” As a result, she
has students with parents on the front
line who go to bed hungry sometimes.
“It’s shocking.”
Vince Hall, the CEO of Feeding San
Diego, says that much of the problem
is geographic. “Many of these families
are the hardest-working people I’veAT DEWEY
ELEMENTARY, 70% OF
THE KIDS GET A FREE
OR REDUCED LUNCH.National Interestrd.com | april 2020 81