Cost-of-living allowances for U.S. government civilians fell across South Korea this week following a steady, year-long decline in the value of the won, according to State Department figures released Sunday.
Workers saw post allowances rates cut in half – from 10 percent to 5 percent of expendable income, which is considered pay left over after housing, savings and health care costs, the department’s Office of Allowances reported.
Meanwhile, civilian allowances increased from 30 percent to 35 percent at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, bringing the base in line with other areas of the country that received increases two weeks ago, the report showed.
The extra money supplements paychecks and is meant to offset the cost of living overseas.
Changes in allowances are tied to national exchange rates and civilian buying habits and usually level exchange rate advantages and disadvantages for federal employees, who are paid in U.S. dollars.
Civilian allowances are updated biweekly by the State Department. The dollar amount increase for post allowances varies for each U.S. civilian employee depending on salary, location and family size.
Post allowances in South Korea are a relatively small percentage compared to payments in mainland Japan and Okinawa where the cost of living is much higher.
For a single civilian working at Osan Air Base in South Korea with a base salary of $32,000, for example, the latest change brings his post allowance to an annual rate of $810, down from $1,620. But the same worker at Yokosuka would now receive $5,670, up from an annual rate of $4,860.
Post allowances in South Korea had not changed since August and early September, when rates fell from 20 to 10 percent, State Department records show.
It has been an especially difficult year for the South Korean won.
The currency has lost about 35 percent of its value against the dollar since October 2007 — the worst performance in Asia — and hit a decade-low mark earlier in October, Bloomberg news reported Monday.
Allowances tables can be found at the State Department Web site: http://aoprals.state.gov.
