Military families brace for missed paychecks as shutdown impacts are already accumulating

By Zachary Cohen, Haley Britzky, CNN

(CNN) — Canceled school events, growing lines at military food pantries, accumulating fears tied to missed paychecks and the potential need for loans to stay afloat — US military families are already feeling the impacts of the government shutdown that is stretching into its second week and are preparing for worse days ahead.

While most Americans are largely removed from the direct repercussions of a shutdown, military families are facing sharp disruptions to lives already burdened with the significant sacrifice that comes with serving.

“We should never put our troops in this position,” one military spouse, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution for voicing their concerns, told CNN. “We should never put their families in this position. The economy for military spouses is tough enough as it is.”

Service members did receive a paycheck on October 1, but with Congress seemingly still gridlocked, families are figuring out how they’ll cope if their pay doesn’t arrive on October 15 as scheduled.

In the last week, military children have already seen after-school programs and activities canceled en masse due to the slowing of federal funds to military schools, disrupting any sense of relative normalcy those families depend on, two of the sources told CNN.

“All activities, even homework club, which some kids absolutely need to maintain their academics,” have been paused, said a third spouse, who is stationed in Guam. “These kids have already made sacrifices for the government, like their dad missing more birthdays and holidays than I can count, and unfairly have this burden too.”

Some of the programs serve as essential child care for service members who work long hours often with little flexibility in their schedules.

“This is an adult issue and is so unfair it impacts our kids,” the third military spouse said.

The organization overseeing Department of Defense schools has since sent out guidance that extracurricular activities are considered “excepted activities” during the shutdown and can resume this week, but the cancellations have shaken the military community even before a first missed paycheck.

Some military families have preemptively flocked to their local food pantries to stock up on groceries and supplies in case there is a drawn-out shutdown that could mean they go an extended period without an income, one of the sources said.

The second military spouse told CNN there were nearly 100 people at their local food pantry, on the base where the spouse’s family is stationed, this week — a notable uptick compared with normal usage. Other food pantries have reported similar increases.

One factor that contributes to tight finances for military families is the disproportionate number that are single-income households, with active-duty service member spouse unemployment consistently high, over 20% in 2024.

“We are out of the workforce in higher numbers because of the military lifestyle, not by choice,” one military spouse explained. “So, we don’t have that cushion of a second income always. It’s not a guarantee.”

Missing even a single paycheck can put service members and their families at serious financial risk, warned Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Families, a not-for-profit group that advocates for military families.

“Fewer than 1 in 3 military families have $3,000 in savings, and nearly 1 in 4 struggles to put food on the table,” she said. “This isn’t just a financial hardship — it’s destabilizing for households and military readiness alike.”

Several charitable organizations and banks that cater to military families offer loans to help bridge pay gaps during a shutdown, but taking out a loan isn’t something many families want to do.

“There is this idea that you can take out loans, but why are we even talking about this?” one of the military spouses said.

‘This presidency is failing us’

The compounding pressures on families has fueled a sense of frustration among many military spouses and their children — some of whom feel the Defense Department, under the Trump administration, failed to prepare service members and their loved ones for the moment, multiple military family members said.

“Regardless of who is in office, I will always respect the office of the presidency,” one military spouse, who also served in the armed forces, told CNN. “However, I do feel like this presidency is failing us. I feel, instead of being united, we’re being divided. And I feel like supporting the troops should be a bipartisan issue, period.”

Two military spouses noted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s unusual gathering of senior military officers in Quantico, Virginia, last week, the day before the shutdown began, only exacerbated concerns that the administration is placing politics above the well-being of service members.

“How are you going to bring all these top leaders in to talk about — ‘Hey, don’t be fat and shave’ — then the next day, the government shuts down?” a second military spouse said about the timing of Hegseth’s event. “You are basically telling these people, ‘OK, now you’re not going to get paid and you are going to get kicked out if you don’t shave.’”

On Sunday, Hegseth blamed Democrats for the government shutdown, telling Fox News that, if prolonged, military service members could struggle without pay. He said service members will start to blame leaders in Congress if they miss out on paychecks.

“It’s not about the money, but at the end of the day, you got to pay the bills. And so, when dumb games are played by Democrats on Capitol Hill, they don’t have the power, they don’t have the control. … It’s nonsense,” Hegseth said.

Because there are varieties of military service, the exact impact on family finances of the shutdown varies widely. For families that have a service member in the National Guard or reserve serving part time and training monthly, the regular income they receive can be a lynchpin for financial stability.

Just days into the shutdown, multiple service members say there are already discussions about canceling those monthly military drills. Depending on their rank, service members are paid between $200 and $800 each month for that drill time, meaning even one canceled exercise could eliminate a key source of additional income that some families need to make ends meet, one source said.

Beyond the financial toll, there is a very real impact on readiness if these drills are canceled, this person said, noting that military pilots, for example, are required to log a certain number of training hours to maintain their certification — without which they are unable to operate aircraft.

Hegseth suggested that military training exercises will continue, at least in the near term, but acknowledged a prolonged shutdown could have real consequences for military readiness.

“We’re going to continue training, but eventually you stop paying people, you stop doing things, you stop training. You’re less ready. You’re less capable of being mission ready. You can’t maintain everything,” Hegseth said Sunday.

School events in limbo

Military families are called upon to make unique sacrifices even when the federal government is functioning, often leaning on their communities for support as they face long deployments and orders that force them to uproot their lives and move every two to four years.

School extracurriculars and sporting events can be key in creating a more normal experience for families, and those events have been particularly hard hit by the shutdown.

In Germany, the principal at Stuttgart High School — which serves the children of US military members stationed there — notified families October 3 that athletic events for the weekend were being canceled. A freshman said that included the school’s homecoming dance and football game, an event the students had been looking forward to.

“It’s frustrating seeing how other American high school students, they still have things like their homecoming … and for us living overseas, when there’s a government shutdown, everything shuts down and makes it not possible for us to do things that we basically look forward to doing all year,” the student told CNN on Friday.

The principal followed up on Tuesday, however, saying future extracurriculars had been cleared as “excepted activities” during the shutdown, to include homecoming events. But the uncertainty, and initial cancellations, had already impacted families as they maneuver through the shutdown.

For students, canceling sporting events might have long-term implications for their futures.

“Seniors need these activities for college applications, which are in full swing right now, and many kids earn scholarships for college from their sports performance,” one of the military spouses said. “Kids were counting on being recruited, and for some, that is their only path to college.”

Meanwhile, teachers are trying to support students going through the uncertainty while some educators themselves aren’t being paid during the shutdown.

“I think that [the teachers] are stressed. I mean, if I was in their position I would be stressed about it too, because they’re going to work without pay,” the Stuttgart student said.

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