17.02.2021 Views

February 2021 Newsletter

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

20 | MHCE - News www.mhce.us FEBRUARY <strong>2021</strong> EDITION<br />

Military Spouses Speak Up: We Don't Just Want Any<br />

Job, We Want the Right Job<br />

It's a truth often repeated in military spousecircles: The career goals of<br />

milspouses, we say, are as varied as the population. We don't all want<br />

the same jobs, we don't all want government jobs, and we don't even<br />

all want jobs that we can do from home.<br />

Now, thanks to a recent survey of military spouses done through a trio<br />

of spouse career support programs, that fact could make its way to<br />

policymakers' desks.<br />

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes<br />

survey, done in collaboration with the Institute for Veterans and<br />

Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University and Starbucks,<br />

leveraged the experience of more 3,300 military spouses to gather<br />

insights about their employment and well-being.<br />

Conducted between June 22 and July 10, 2020, participants were<br />

married to an active-duty service member, reservist, National<br />

Guardmember, or a retired or recently separated (within the last<br />

three years) veteran. And thanks to its timing, it took into account<br />

experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.<br />

The survey was meant to capture whether spouse well-being and<br />

mental health are directly related to gaining and keeping meaningful<br />

employment. It also looked at the impact of chronic military spouse<br />

unemployment and underemployment, now coupled with pandemic<br />

hardships.<br />

"The intent of this research was to identify how employment,<br />

unemployment and underemployment impact military spouses' mental<br />

health and wellbeing, and provide actionable recommendations for<br />

community providers and nonprofits, employers and government to<br />

best support spouse employment and wellbeing outcomes," Hisako<br />

Sonethavilay, a senior adviser with the Military Spouse Program at<br />

Hiring Our Heroes, said in an email to Military.com.<br />

well-being and mental health. It's allowed me to maintain a sense of<br />

purpose and has often served as a much-needed lifeline, providing a<br />

sense of normalcy and familiarity with every curveball military life<br />

throws at us," said one Marine Corps spouse participant.<br />

Surveys and reports capturing data on issues, problems or military<br />

life experiences broadly recognized in the military community are<br />

important as advocates attempt to drive policy changes.<br />

To learn more of the key findings of the 2020 Military Spouse<br />

Employment and Wellbeing Survey, tune into the live "Reclaiming<br />

a Sense of Self Through Employment" event at 1 p.m. ET on Feb.<br />

4. Featured speakers and subject-matter experts will discuss the<br />

relevance of the research and the recommendations they're suggesting<br />

to help support the employment and well-being of military spouses.<br />

Creating a Culture<br />

of Caring<br />

Offering master’s<br />

and doctoral<br />

degrees for<br />

Registered Nurses<br />

Specialties Offered:<br />

Nurse-Midwife<br />

Family Nurse Practitioner<br />

Women’s Health Care NP<br />

Psychiatric-Mental Health NP<br />

Survey participants captured a broad sample of the spouse community.<br />

About 45% were married to an enlisted service member between the<br />

ranks of E-5 and E-9, while 28% were spouses of those in the ranks of<br />

O-4 to O-6; 88% were active duty.<br />

"My career has been one of the most stabilizing forces in our military<br />

family's journey. Without question, it has positively impacted my own<br />

Learn more at frontier.edu/military

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!