Understanding military partners’ employment: What we know, what we want to know, and how we can find out more

Behind every Serving member of the UK Armed Forces stands a network of families whose lives are shaped by the demands and rewards of Service life. In recent years, researchers have begun to look more deeply at those families, especially military partners and how their experiences with employment, mobility, and other aspects of military life, affect not only their own well-being and futures but also the stability of the Armed Forces community itself.

Understanding how military partners fit within the workforce of the future was the focus of a recent conference curated and chaired by Dr Alison Baverstock and hosted at Kingston University, in November 2025. As part of this conference, our Deputy Director, Dr Mary Keeling, was invited to present on

“The role of research in understanding military partner employment: What we know, what we want to know, and how we can find out”.

While previously a topic on the periphery, understanding the experiences of military partners, especially their employment, has begun to be recognised as central to their, their Serving partners’, and wider families’ well-being, as well as military retention and readiness. In this News Feature, we share an overview of the presentation given by Mary at the conference and how this can inform further needed research as well as policy and practice. This included highlighting that ‘what we know’ is currently limited due to a scarcity of research focused on military partner employment, but that among the existing, yet limited, evidence, is indication of the barriers and challenges many partners face. Subsequently, there is much we ‘want to know’ and a need for research to increase understanding, including turning away from a deficit lens towards a strengths perspective, so that evidence can be used to inform policy and practice, to enable military partners to thrive.

A brief history of Armed Forces community research

Systematic research into the British Armed Forces community is relatively new. For much of the twentieth century, the focus stayed on Service personnel. After the First World War this was particularly focused on physical injury and rehabilitation. Long-term welfare including pensions and housing, and psychological trauma, became a focus after the Second World War, with continued attention on psychological trauma through later decades. Families were seldom seen as part of the military’s responsibility; welfare provision for partners and children remained largely charitable.

From the early 2000s, that began to change. The introduction of the Armed Forces Covenant in 2011, formalised a commitment to ensure that those who Serve, and their families, are not disadvantaged because of military life. The same year saw the creation of the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), funding independent research to inform policy. Gradually, studies expanded beyond physical and mental health to cover social integration, education, and employment, a shift that acknowledged families as part of the broader defence ecosystem.

Current research activity focused on military partners

While recognition of the importance of understanding the experiences and needs of military families and partners has increased, there is still unfortunately a sparsity of current research being conducted and published that focuses on families and relationships.

Turning to the Centre for Evidence ongoing research page, (an up-to-date searchable directory of current UK Armed Forces community research) we see that just eight of the Armed Forces community studies currently being conducted in the UK are with military connected families, and none of those are about partner employment.

Among published papers, research focused on families and relationships accounts for just 15% of published research internationally, and 7% in the UK. When looking specifically at the UK, approximately 23 research papers have been published since 2000 that focused specifically on military partners, with just three of those focused on partner employment (1,2,3).

What the data reveal about military partners

Employment is one of the most important and under explored aspects of life for military partners. Findings from the Tri-Service Families Continuous Attitude Survey (FamCAS) show that most partners want and seek employment, but many struggle to find roles matching their skills or continuity of career (4).

According to FamCAS (4), 81% of surveyed military partners reported being in work, with a steady rise in full-time employment, from 41% in 2015 to 55% in 2025. Around 21% work part-time, and about 6% are self-employed. Yet around two thirds (68%) reported difficulties finding suitable work, a figure that has increased since 2024. Thus, while some partners may find employment, this may not necessarily match their employment preferences, skills, and experience.

Top difficulties reported in securing employment included location, partner being away, partner unable to assist with childcare, and extended family being too far away to assist with childcare. Overseas postings exacerbate the problem with 43% of FamCAS respondents who were accompanying their Service member abroad reporting they could not find paid work (4).

While these findings echo the Army Families Federation Spouse and Partner Employment Survey 2024 (5), limitations to FamCAS data are important to highlight including that partners are invited to participate via their Serving partner, with a disproportionate number of partners of Officers taking part, and information on ethnicity not reported. Further research that includes partners across age, education, ethnicity, parental status, relationship status (co-habiting, married, long-term living separately), location, living scenario (e.g. on barracks, off barracks, unaccompanied ¹, Serving partners’ rank, and Service branch, is needed to get a fuller and representative understanding of partner employment experiences and how they might differ or be effected by these different factors.  

Why employment matters

Research points to several interconnected benefits of partner employment.

• Identity and well-being: Work provides structure and social contact. Gribble et al (2) found that military partners in meaningful jobs reported greater well-being and self-confidence. Employment allowed partners to define themselves beyond their Serving member’s role, and by overcoming the challenges of finding employment they experienced personal growth.
• Financial resilience: Military partners being employed creates financial independence. Evidence suggests difficulties in partners gaining and maintaining employment is a crucial factor contributing to financial stability of military families (6).
• Retention and readiness: Military partners being in satisfying employment indirectly supports operational sustainability. Evidence suggests that employment related frustration among partners can contribute to early departure decisions, particularly for younger families facing frequent relocations (3,5).

The persistent barriers

Several enduring barriers still hold partners back from finding suitable and satisfying employment.

• Employer discrimination. Lyonette et al (3) found that many partners hesitate to disclose their military connection when applying for jobs, fearing rejection or assumptions about instability. Employers often misread varied CVs, frequent moves and short contracts, as inconsistency rather than adaptability.
• Location constraints compound the issue. Rural postings or overseas bases limit local job markets (4,5).
• Childcare gaps and interruptions in professional training further restrict access to suitable work (2, 3).
• Low awareness of available support is reported, and while many programmes successfully provide training and job matching, many families do not know they exist (1).

Underemployment and career disruption

Beyond whether military partners work, lies the issue of how well their jobs match their qualifications, needs, and expectations. Lyonette et al (3) found that 63 % of respondents changed career paths because of military life, but only 7 % wanted to. Partners often retrain for portable jobs or accept roles below skill level, causing long term loss of earnings and confidence.

Although disruptive, this pattern also reveals resilience and adaptability. Demonstrated flexibility and perseverance hint at an untapped asset within the national workforce, a point reinforced by Godier-McBard et al (1) in their evaluation of employment support programmes.

An evolving research landscape

One limitation of existing research is that much of the evidence predates COVID-19. The pandemic transformed working habits, expanding hybrid and remote options. For military partners, that shift may have opened new opportunities, yet systematic data and research evidence remain sparse. This highlights a need for updated research to assess post-pandemic impacts on mobility, remote work, and family well-being.

Gaps also remain in demographic coverage. Surveys such as FamCAS (4) still over represent Officer families and long-term married couples, while partners from minority ethnic backgrounds or living unaccompanied remain under studied.

What we need to know next

New research priorities include:

• Representative understanding of partner employment experiences, including success stories, barriers and facilitators to securing suitable employment, and experiences of underemployment.
• Measuring partners’ current and future potential contributions to the national workforce.
• Understanding the level of awareness of current support among partners and how to increase it.
• Exploring how support needs may have changed and how they might change in the future.
• Investigating employer understanding of the strengths and capabilities military partners bring to the workforce as well as the extent, cause, and maintenance of any employer discrimination.
• Exploring organisational culture change within Defence and how this can enable partners’ employment prospects.
• Evaluating existing partner employment support programmes.

Overall, there is a need to shift from a deficit focus to an assets-based view, examining what military partners contribute, not merely what they lack.

Investing in better evidence

Robust evidence depends on realistic funding and appropriate methodology. Longitudinal and mixed-methods studies cost more but yield richer insights. Collaboration among funders, researchers, and practitioners ensures that research is not unnecessarily duplicated nor conduced in silos, that shared knowledge is built, and that results inform real policy decisions. Including military partners in the research process from the beginning, using participatory research approaches, will ensure research is not just about military partners, but for, and with them, enhancing the quality and validity of the evidence.

Employment as a lens on a thriving community

Employment acts as a practical lens on community well-being and measure of success. When military partners can pursue meaningful careers, families gain stability, and Armed Forces morale and retention rise. When opportunities remain constrained, stress and dissatisfaction ripple outward. The emerging evidence base indicates slow but steady progress alongside persistent structural hurdles (2,3,4,5).

Partners are increasingly recognised not as dependents but as active contributors to national productivity and defence resilience. That recognition must continue to grow.

Towards a whole-of-society approach to defence

The recent Strategic Defence Review (7) offers real opportunities to embed these insights. A whole-of-society approach to defence means viewing partner employment and family well-being as integral to defence capability. Employers and public services can help by promoting remote working, portable careers, valuing rich and varied CVs, and open attitudes to mobility (4,5).

Funders can further the effort by supporting high quality and collaborative research projects that advance understanding across disciplines. For researchers, maintaining transparency, inclusivity, and good communication, will strengthen policy and practice connections.

Looking ahead

As this research field matures, success will be measured not only by statistics of employment status and outcomes, but by lived experience of partners’ involvement and interaction with the workforce. Integrating employment, health, and education data will create a more coherent view of the Armed Forces community. Through ongoing collaboration, evidence can continue to inform practical solutions, ensuring that military partners’ potential is fully recognised and that their contribution strengthens their families’ outcomes and national defence.

¹ Living unaccompanied means those who live separately from their serving partner during the week, often opting to live close to social connections (e.g. family, friends) and schools, this is sometimes referred to as ‘weekending’ 

References

[1] Godier McBard, L.R., Caddick, N., & Fossey, M. (2020). Confident, Valued and Supported: Examining the Benefits of Employment Support for Military Spouses. Military Psychology, 32(3), 273 286. Available at: Link

[2] Gribble, R., Goodwin, L., Oram, S., & Fear, N.T. (2019). ‘It’s Nice to Just Be You’: The Influence of Employment Experiences of UK Military Spouses During Accompanied Postings on Well Being. Health Psychology Open, 6(1). Available at: Link 

[3] Lyonette, C., Barnes, S.A., Kispeter, E., Fisher, N., & Newell, K. (2018). Military Spousal/Partner Employment: Identifying the Barriers and Support Required. Available at: Link 

[4] Ministry of Defence. (2025). Tri Service Families Continuous Attitude Survey 2025 Main Report. Available at: Link 

[5] Army Families Federation. (2024). Spouse and Partner Employment Survey 2024: Full Report. Army Families Federation. Available at: Link

[6] Slapakova, L., Thue, K., & Huxtable, L. (2023). Examining the Financial Stability of UK Military Families. RAND Europe. Available at: Link

[7] GOV.UK (2025). Strategic Defence Review Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad 2025. Available at: Link