Introduction
Introduction:
Military families are a key solution to the recruiting crisis, but likelihood to recommend military service is declining. Quality-of-life issues such as spouse employment, housing costs, and lack of belonging to the community influence families’ likelihood to recommend military service. Sustaining the All-Volunteer Force will require support from all sectors — communities and individuals, businesses, government, and military.
Social Ties:
Frequent relocation and separation from friends and family make in-person connection a challenge. Most active-duty family respondents report they engage with their closest friends virtually rather than in person, but those that do report lower mean well-being scores (M = 43.3, range 0-70 versus 46.9). Engaging virtually may allow military families to interact with others more frequently, but active-duty family respondents who engaged entirely or mostly in person with their closest relationship had a higher mean well-being score than those who engaged entirely or mostly virtually, regardless of how often they interacted.
Veteran Transition and Readiness:
Veteran experiences in the transition from military to civilian life have implications for whether they recommend military service, regardless of retirement status. Overall, Veterans respondents find the transition from military to civilian life “difficult,” especially if the respondent was unable to prepare for the transition.
Health Care Access and Quality
Health Care Access:
Access to timely specialty health care can be a challenge for military families, often exceeding average wait times in the overall U.S. Four in 10 active-duty family respondents reported that their family member needing specialty care waited more than two months from the time they sought an appointment to the date of the appointment. For those who waited more than two months for a specialty care appointment, just 19% considered that wait time to be “reasonable.”
Education Access and Quality
EFMP Families:
A greater proportion of active-duty family respondents who relocated since their child(ren)’s education plan was created reported their child received the same services/accommodations as their previous school system within six months if they were enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP). Most (71%) respondents enrolled in EFMP are enrolled for their child(ren), but not all who have children who may qualify are enrolled.
Neighborhood and Built Environment
Housing and Relocation:
Higher out-of-pocket housing costs may influence military families’ likelihood to recommend military service. Housing costs remain the top contributing factor to financial stress for active-duty family respondents, despite slight gains in overall financial well-being. Housing costs continue to be a top five issue of concern for active-duty families, though Department of Defense efforts to address these concerns appear to be making a positive impact.
Economic Stability
Food Insecurity:
Knowledge and utilization of the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) is low; the new program may not yet be effectively targeting food-insecure families. More than half (54%) of active-duty family respondents did not know what the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) was and only a small proportion (3%) indicated that they had applied. Of active-duty family respondents, 1 in 6 reported experiencing food insecurity; this increases to 1 in 4 enlisted family respondents.
Spouse Employment & Child Care:
Job portability shows positive gains for those active-duty spouses who recently relocated, though overall spouse employment rates continue to be hampered by child care challenges and service member schedules. Spouse respondents estimate thousands of dollars in income lost while waiting to obtain a new or have a current professional license honored after relocation. The ability to find and pay for child care continues to be a top barrier to employment for spouses, in addition to service member schedules. Just 20% of spouses with a need for child care for work use Child Development Centers and 5% use Family Care Centers.
