The biggest challenges of military life, according to Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle Survey

Ryan Callahan — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 16:18:30 -0400

Time away from families. Lack of employment for military spouses. The strains of finding affordable housing after relocating. Access to benefits and pay.

These are among the top issues that members of the military and Veteran community said made life challenging last year, according to the annual Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle Survey, released in a report earlier this month.

This is Blue Star’s 12th annual survey of active-duty, National Guard and reserve service members and Veterans, and their families. Conducted each year with the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Miliary Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University, the survey features responses from 8,000 participants worldwide who were asked questions during April-June 2021. Responses paint a picture of the state of the military and Veteran experience in areas such as community, education, economics, health care and more.

“Every year, we bring to light the complex and unique challenges facing the men and women who serve our country, as well as their families, so we can strengthen what’s working and improve what’s not,” said Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Families, in a news release about the survey, the results of which are summarized in the publication, 2021 Military Family Lifestyle Survey Comprehensive Report.

The survey results also help military leaders and policymakers identify perennial problems, emerging trends and new areas of concern that impact the health and well-being of the military and Veteran community, said Maureen Casey, CEO of IVMF, during The Military Family Experience 2022: Back to Basics. That two-day virtual event, held March 16-17, featured Roth-Douquet, Casey and defense, military and congressional leaders discussing the survey report in more detail.

Data show the resiliency of military families
“When we look at the data, what impacted me the most is the resiliency of family and how family overall is really making that commitment to that soldier or that armed forces person serving in the military,” said retired Brig. Gen. Irene M. Zoppi (Rodríguez) during the virtual event.

Zoppi, who has 35 years of active and reserve service and retired as the first female Puerto Rican general in Army Reserves history, also said the data points to places where the military can better attract, retain and advance the “human capital” at its core, which includes more support for military spouses and children.

Top concerns include quality of life, military spouse employment, education

What else does the largest and most comprehensive survey of its kind tell us about the current state of military and Veteran family life? Here’s more about what respondents said were their top concerns:

1. Military family quality of life. Under this broad category, reported as a concern by 24% of active-duty respondents, the overall reasons cited were instability and inconsistency of life. Specific quality-of-life themes that emerged in open-ended responses included time with children and families, relocation difficulties, impact of operations tempo (“OPTEMPO,” which is daily workload, deployment load and training load), amount of time away from family due to military service, and the feeling the military doesn’t under the impact on families of service members’ unpredictable schedules and long hours.

2. Military and Veteran spouse employment. This was the top concern of active-duty families, including for almost half of active-duty spouses and a quarter of active-duty service members, the report said. It was also a top concern of reserve families and Veteran spouses. The barriers to employment cited by military spouses surveyed who needed or wanted to work included the service member’s unpredictable and lengthy work schedule, costly child care and the length of time they’d spent out of the workforce. About 33% of employed active-duty spouses said that having to look for a new job due to relocation/permanent change of station (PCS) was a bar to consistent employment.

3. Education of children. As it has been in previous years, access to quality education for military children was among the top-five concerns of active-duty families, cited by 31% of respondents. Most said their oldest child enrolled in K-12 was having a positive experience, the survey found. Military families whose oldest child is an adolescent who had attended five or more schools were less apt to say their child had a sense of belonging at school. More families with children attending in-person instruction said their oldest child was thriving compared to families with children attending virtual or hybrid classes, the survey found. The survey report said that a “notable proportion” of these active-duty families rated at least one child’s mental health as “fair,” “poor” or “very poor.” Of the 17% of respondents who said they wanted their child to receive mental health care, 21% cited fears that a mental health diagnosis could prevent their child’s future military service.

4. Relocation/PCS issues. The burden of PCS moves on active-duty military families rose to a top-five area of concern in the 2021 survey, the report said. “Already stressed by spouse un- and underemployment, student loans and out-of-pocket relocation costs, military families making PCS … moves face long military housing waitlists, unaffordable civilian housing markets, and expensive rental costs, which can further add to their financial burden,” the report said. For National Guard and reserve families, the impact of deployments on families climbed to a top issue of concern.

5. Access to health care, benefits and pay. Veterans and Veteran spouses cited trouble accessing military and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care systems and services as a top challenge, the report said, and also cited access to other military pay and Veteran benefits as issues of concern.

Learn more

Visit the main page with the report, survey results, a video of the archived event and related materials: https://rly.pt/BSFSurveyResults

Download a summary report: https://rly.pt/3iTXHxq

Read the full report: https://rly.pt/BSFReport

View an infographic highlighting survey findings: https://rly.pt/BSFinfographic

MFLS Survey Results 2021 - Blue Star Families

In Collaboration With Explore the full results Learn more about the annual survey Watch the results release videos Become a survey funder Browse the survey archives Submit a media inquiry…

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Mar 31 at 2022 4:41 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 16:41:42 -0400

We wore out the military and family members with lots of training and multiple deployments. Our military became tired and weary.

Response by SGT Kerry Sommers made Apr 1 at 2022 8:26 PM

SGT Kerry Sommers — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 20:26:01 -0400

Housing for veteran’s

Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made Apr 6 at 2022 9:56 PM

Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 21:56:43 -0400

I come from a different time; time away from families was about it, spouses didn't HAVE to work, they chose to, so lack of opportunity wasn't a big deal.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 20 at 2022 3:47 AM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 03:47:26 -0400

Not so much a big challenge but something missed and never mentioned. The children raised in the military. (military brats) a great life if you can learn to make new friends every few years and adjust to friends constantly leaving. What I envy most about civilian kids is not having old school buddies. Not knowing what happen to the kids I grew up with. No class reunions. I graduated in '69 at the 5th high school I went to. We were in Germany most of my High School years. Bad Tölz and Munich '64 to '68. Then dad deployed to Nam. The family went to St Petersburg Fl where mom moved numerous times and I went to 4 more high school. Finally gradating from Seminole High where I attended about 6 weeks.
Flint Kaserne, Bad Tölz, the bus rides to Munich high for almost three years, the Explorer Scouts, The AYA, the unlimited support we got from the Army, specifically Col Beck made for a wonderful 4 years.
I did bump into some of my Munich high friends in Nam.
But now everything is gone and we never had any kind of a reunion.