MARRIAGE PAY IN NAVY

Southland Times, Issue 23166, 6 April 1937, Page 8

MARRIAGE PAY IN NAVY

LIKELY PROVISION IN BUDGET Marriage allowances for officers and ratings in the Navy are expected to be included in this year’s Naval Estimates. Treasury approval has, of course, to be obtained. Agitation to bring the Navy into line with the Army and the Air Force on this question has been going on for years. For years, too, the Admiralty has been in favour of allowing more money to married men. One of the most pressing demands for the marriage allowance has followed the Navy’s recent encouragement for lower deck ratings to work for promotion, says the Daily Herald. Men on the lower deck have found that they cannot afford to accept commissions. The completely different status to which they are elevated makes it almost impossible for them to live on equal conditions with their brother officers, and still give their wives a normal allowance. The Navy marriage rates—by no means settled yet—are expected to be on a par with the Army scale. In the Army, an unmarried lieutenant earns £450 a year, including all allowances. Married, his pay is £522 a year. A captain, after 4| years’ service, is paid £566 as an unmarried man, and £675 a year if he is married.