As I pointed out, the cost of living for (most) enlistees is lower than for civilians, so the living wage issue has much less impact on military personel.
In addition, when a person leaves military service, he or she has received training and experience that will let him or her earn a decent wage.
Now, we are only left with the problem that recruiters will promise all sorts of things in order to get signatures on the lines. I think, though, that if registration or enlistment were the criteria of adulthood, there would be less of this happening than is currently the case. Quotas would be easier to fill, and, in fact, it might even become the case that enlistees would have to be turned away for budgetary reasons--there might not be enough money in the payroll to pay them--if this additional impetus to serve were in place. |
