2010 Military Family Lifestyle Survey Results (Slides)

2010 Military Family Lifestyle Survey Findings and Analysis Funding for the Military Lifestyle Survey and event was provided by Blue Shield of California Foundation

Blue Star Families partnered with many of the country’s most respected military service organizations to distribute our survey online via partner websites, member newsletters, and through physical locations.

Demographics

Top Military Life Issues What are the Top 3 military life issues that most concern you? % of Respondents Ranking Issue #1: Pay/Benefits Effect of Deployment on Kids OPTEMPO Kids’ Education Spouse Employment Moral Support for Families Spouse Education PTSD/Combat Stress/TBI Services to Off Base Families Practical Support for Families PCS Adjustments Family Reintegration Service Member Education Maternity/Paternity Leave 41% 34% 30% 26% 30% 23% 22% 12% 16% 21% 16% 14% 8% 6% % of Respondents Ranking Issue in the Top 3:

OPTEMPO: Breadth & Depth of Deployments Has your service member been deployed during your marriage? Since 9/11, about how many months has your service member been deployed? Yes 82% No 18% 7% 23% 21% 25% 14% 5% 6% Unsure Less than 6 months 6-12 months 13-24 months 25-36 months 37-48 months More than 48 months

During your service member’s deployments, how would you describe your personal stress level? 38% 1% 52% 0.3% Nearly all respondents report increased stress during deployment with over 1/3 citing much more stress Spouse Deployment Stress Level OPTEMPO & Spouse Stress

OPTEMPO & Spouse Mental Health During your service member’s deployments, how would you describe your overall personal mental health? 40% 18% 4% 8% Despite the fact that most spouses reported higher stress levels, nearly half indicate no problems with overall mental health 4%

Spouse Employment
49% said that being a military spouse had a negative effect on their ability to pursue a career
13.5% have experienced some form of employment discrimination based on their military spouse status

Spouse Employment
19% of respondents have had challenges with maintaining their licenses across state lines
This contributes to the significant number of spouses who wish to work, but are not
Licensing Difficulties: If your profession requires a license of any type, such as a teaching license, have you encountered any challenges in the maintenance of the license due to geographic relocation?

Spouse Employment: MyCAA

The Military Child & Deployment

The Military Child & Education
Mobility
Standardize curriculum
Standardize access to programs (gifted, special needs)
Sensitivity to student emotions
Deployment
Professionals’ knowledge of deployment stressors
Students without a peer support network
Highlighted Quote “ The education system in all the states we have lived in or moved to...have different curriculum, which means my children miss out on some aspects of their education and sometimes they repeat things that were taught in one state the following year in a new state.”

In 2010, fewer military spouses completely agreed that the general public doesn’t understand sacrifices associated with military service compared to 2009 % of Respondents: 71% 23% 3% 2% 1% 64% 28% 4% 3% 1% To what extent do you agree with the following statement: “ The general public does not truly understand or appreciate the sacrifices made by service members and their families.” Community Engagement

Military Family Volunteerism Where have you volunteered?

Social Media: Informational Sources Jr. Enlisted E1-4 Warrant W1-W5 Co. Grade O1-O3 Field Grade O4-O6 Military.com Milspouse.com MilitaryOneSource.com What are the military-related sites that you visit on a regular basis to gather information about the military community or services?

Conclusions
Need for a move from reactive and piecemeal approaches to planned, comprehensive strategies in program development and systems of services.
Big Issues:
Pay and Benefits
Military Kids – education and effects of deployment
OPTEMPO – introduction of Individual Augmentee (IA) assignments
Spouse Employment
Emerging/Notable Issues:
Changing Military Families – parents of service member concerns, blended families, EFMP family members
Communication – reliance on and use of social media
Volunteerism

Next Steps Military and Civilian Leadership: Involve non-traditional participants from both military and civilian communities Highlight potential of public-private partnerships Targeted follow up with specific legislation (i.e. spouse employment and children’s education) Blue Star Families: Continue research into specified and emergent themes: Increase in parental responses Volunteerism Best Practices for meeting needs of military families Compile diverse research from other DoD and independent agencies as it relates to military family life

http://www.bluestarfam.org	1065
http://bluestarfam.org	15
http://thepatrioticbaker.com	5
http://bluestar.libertyconcepts.com	1
http://www.google.com	1

2010 Military Family Lifestyle Survey Results (Slides)

by Stephanie Himel-Nelson on Sep 21, 2010

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

5 Embeds 1,087

Statistics

2010 Military Family Lifestyle Survey Results (Slides) Presentation Transcript