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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 />
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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