Keeping Military Pay Competitive: The Outlook for Civilian Wage Growth and Its Consequences

Abstract

Attracting and keeping high-quality personnel has been a challenge for the military services during much of the past decade. In response to growing concerns about military readiness and missed recruiting goals, and recognizing that compensation plays an important part in career decisionmaking, Congress recently approved significant increases in military pay. Many in the defense community expected that these changes would "solve" recent recruiting and manning problems. However, RAND analysis suggests further challenges ahead. The military faces stiffer competition from higher education as more and more young Americans attend college each year. Meanwhile, the financial returns to college education have been on the rise for 20 years or more. These and other factors, outlined in this issue paper, suggest that more must be done if military pay is to remain competitive in the future.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA388165

Entities

People

  • James R. Hosek
  • Jennifer Sharp

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Business Administration
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Law
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Education
  • Military Operations
  • Military Personnel
  • Motivation
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Recruiting
  • Recruits
  • Training
  • Unemployment
  • United States

Readers

  • Naval Personnel Management
  • Systems Analysis and Design