Tuesday 24 May 2022 10:01 AM Our Boys feel the cost-of-living pinch: Pay satisfaction among soldiers FALLS trends now
British soldiers' happiness with their pay has fallen for the first time in four years amid the cost-of-living crisis gripping Britain.
A new report by the Ministry of Defence found that financial satisfaction rates in the Armed Forces fell by four percentage points this year, for the first time since 2018.
The fall was driven by unhappiness among British Army soldiers and Royal Marines about their basic pay, with RAF and Royal Navy personnel more satisfied.
The situation worse among other ranks than officers, with fewer than four in 10 privates and NCOs (37 per cent) happy with their basic rate of pay, according to the report.
Just 41 percent believe that the pay and benefits they receive are 'fair' for the work they do, down from 46 per cent last year.
And the report admits that the cost-of-living crisis is among the factors involved, along with a public sector pay freeze announced last year that limited increases to personnel earning less than £24,000 a year.
'These announcements may have influenced the views of personnel regarding their pay and benefits', it noted.
'Other factors such as inflation and the cost of living may have also been a factor in the drop in satisfaction with pay reported this year.'
A new report by the Ministry of Defence found that financial satisfaction rates in the Armed Forces fell by four percentage points this year, for the first time since 2018.
The fall was driven by unhappiness among British Army soldiers (troops in Estonia pictured with Boris Johnson in March) and Royal Marines, with RAF and Royal Navy personnel more satisfied.
The UK Regular Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey Results 2022 polled more than 9,300 British service personnel. It also found that satisfaction with service life had fallen five points since 2021 -
