Because military families move so often, it can be extremely difficult for spouses to find work and sustain their careers. The hiring process can be lengthy and by the time spouses gain employment, they may be only a year or two out from another PCS.
Frequent moves, absence of the service member, cost of child care vs. wages, and employer bias were the most frequently cited reasons for this problem. This isn't imaginary. Military spouses suffer a demonstrable difference in career attainment from their civilian counterparts.
There are roughly 710k active-duty military spouses as of 2022. Of those: 53% participate in the workforce (compared to 76% of the general population)
Holding down a job while your spouse is in the military is easier than you might think. While the military often throws a monkey wrench into best-laid plans, your career doesn't have to be one of them. Military spouses have successful careers in all types of industries.
However, wives are simultaneously considered subordinate to their husbands within the military and extended community. Indicative of this attitude are the divisive stereotypes of military wives that range from lazy and irresponsible, to overly rank-conscious and entitled.
2. Life as a Military Spouse is a Challenge. The life of a military spouse is undeniably challenging. Being away from your partner for months or years at a time, assuming the role of a single parent, trying to balance a career while moving so often – all of these realities of military life can take its toll.
Marital problems related to deployment and military service can include struggles related to service-caused PTSD, depression or anxiety, caregiving challenges if their service member returns injured, feelings of isolation and resentment towards their spouse, infidelity related to the long separations, and the roller ...
There is no military spouse pay or stipend, but the military offers a number of benefits to help service members and their families. Your first stop after the wedding should be the nearest military ID card issuing facility to enroll in DEERS, the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.
One of the biggest stressors for 44% of military spouses are the challenges that come with employment, in addition to time away from family and providing their children with a quality education. Other stressors include quality of life, military pay and family stability.
Military Divorce Rates
The divorce rate for all military personnel is about 3%. Marine Corps and Air Force troops have a slightly higher overall rate, at 3.3%. Officers have a lower rate, at 1.7%, while enlisted troops have a 3.5% rate.
An estimated 70% of military marriages involve at least one infidelity. This statistic is a stark reminder of the prevalence of infidelity in military marriages.
Home Life. Unfortunately, being stationed together is not guaranteed, but all branches have a form of a Join Spouse program that tries to keep spouses together or within 100 miles of each other. That way you'll actually have the potential to see one another on off-duty days.
Military life brings additional challenges to couples, including: Frequent separations. Deployments and temporary duty assignments mean that military members spend more time away from home than the average civilian. Missing important events like anniversaries and birthdays can be hard for both members of the couple.
Military families move, on average, every 2.5 years, every move bringing great change and the need to start anew for each member of the family. Military life has pros and cons, but among the downsides is the stress from these restarts. “It is a substantial setback.
Enlisted military personnel and those working in the emergency services field are under the most stress. Not all stress is bad. Healthy stress can serve as a motivator, while unhealthy stress zaps concentration. More than half of Americans report that work is a significant source of stress in their lives.
For starters, an unmarried couple cannot live on a base outside of certain extenuating circumstances that would have the non-service member defined as a caregiver for the service member's children. As a result, unmarried military couples typically live off-base.
One of the perks of being in the military is that you can typically tie the knot at the base chapel for free. This includes a chaplain to perform the wedding ceremony and a variety of choices, including almost any religious denomination, non-religious, military, civilian and casual.
As a husband or wife of a service member, you get to be an active participant in the military family. You are also eligible for many benefits, including health care, shopping privileges on base and access to base recreation facilities and other programs.
Service members are independent and you should be, too.
Troops have to deploy, which means not having him or her around for important events like anniversaries, birthdays and weddings. If you're a person that constantly needs their physical presence, dating a service member is probably the wrong choice.
At least ten years of marriage overlapping at least ten years of military service is needed for direct payment from the retired pay center, usually the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS).