- Reaction score
- 26,513
- Points
- 1,090
Interesting article in the New York Times, discussing the reactions of families to the insurance and death gratuity payments the receive after the death of a relative.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/nyregion/22benefits.html?_r=1&ei=5088&en=2375ca546b7e1190&ex=1363838400&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/nyregion/22benefits.html?_r=1&ei=5088&en=2375ca546b7e1190&ex=1363838400&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
For some relatives of service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the money feels, at first, like an affront, as if the government were putting a price tag on a loved one’s life. Others are thrown off balance by the sudden infusion of $500,000, spending with abandon to assuage grief or finding themselves besieged by hard-up friends and relatives. And the newfound wealth often strains relations among in-laws.
Three years ago, advocates for military families succeeded in winning a significant expansion in survivor benefits, which include life insurance, a death gratuity, medical care and housing and education assistance. But the increases have left some widows and next of kin clearly rattled by the collision of mourning and money.
“It’s like winning the lottery, and your relatives all look at you like you’re a cash cow,” said Kathleen B. Moakler, director of government relations for the National Military Family Association, a nonprofit advocacy organization. “Money makes people do strange things.”