Can anyone speak to if and where in the ACS PUMS "non-wage"compensation paid to military servicemembers shows up?
For example "Basic Housing Allowance"? (which, I believe, might be paid directly by the service to a private provider, or provided in kind by the military)
I guess I have two questions really, one is where is such compensation SUPPOSED to be reported, the second is, in practice, is it included where it is supposed to be reported or anywhere on the ACS, or does it tend to be un or under-reported (for example when compared to administrative records or known pay and benefit scales)?
I am finding that for the areas that I am looking at in CA, at least 95% of persons employed by the military report zero "other income" ("OIP"). Also military servicemember in the area I am looking at are LESS likely than the general population to report not paying rent (TEN==4).
This matters for things like producing estimates of households that are income-eligible for means-tested programs, such as SNAP, where benefits like housing allowance are included in the eligibility calculation. If they are NOT being reported in servicemember's income at all in the ACS, then this could, make it look like they are eligible in the ACS, but they actually would not be eligible when they submit an application.
It looks like military pay stubs total pay and allowances, so it seems reasonable to think that servicemembers would actually report that total as their earnings.