separation allowance

Noun

separation allowance (plural separation allowances)

1. A sum of money paid regularly to support the dependents of a member of the military while he or she is serving away from home.
   • Life in the army, perhaps for the first time in the history of wars, raised in many respects the conventional standard of requirements,—the soldier was better clothed, better shod, and often better fed than the labourer, and his wife, adding in war time a separation allowance to new opportunities...1931, John Maynard Keynes, “Inflation and Deflation”, in Essays in Persuasion, London: Macmillan
   • […] I joined up, seeing as they were looking for men. And she’s glad of the separation allowance, let me tell you.2005, Sebastian Barry, chapter 17, in A Long Long Way, New York: Viking, page 219

   Synonyms:

   family separation allowance

2. Money paid as compensation to someone whose employment has ended.
   • The Mayor and Council will be entitled to a separation allowance upon completion of their term in office.
   • Workers who resign within thirty days after receiving a layoff notice are eligible for a separation allowance of two weeks’ salary for each year of service.

   Synonyms:

   separation pay, severance pay