Working Around the Military: Challenges to Military Spouse Employment and Education

Abstract: Successful recruiting and retention of the active duty force depends in large part on the extent to which service members and their spouses are satisfied with the military lifestyle. Prior research suggests both that the most satisfied military families are those with an employed spouse and that the influence of military spouses on service member retention decisions has increased with the proportion of military spouses working outside the home. The majority of military spouses are employed. Nonetheless, the RAND Corporation finds that they are less likely to be employed, are more likely to be seeking work, and earn less than comparable civilian spouses. Common explanations for their different employment outcomes are that military spouses tend to be younger, which influences their earnings and employability; that they may choose not to work; or that there may be aspects of the military lifestyle that preclude their employment or affect the types of jobs they accept (and thus their earnings). To parse these varied explanations and gain a more detailed picture of military spouse employment, RAND researchers characterized military spouse employment based on the analysis of available Census and other data, including the personal perceptions and experiences of military spouses gained from interviews with more than 1,100 military spouses. The goal was to consider the demographics of military spouses, such as age, education level, or number and age of children, as well as less observable factors, such as spouse's interest in work, employer biases against military spouses, or the impact of the military lifestyle on the service member's family.