Survey says soldiers, families worry about time apart, child care

Nov. 27--Documents

A new survey of military personnel and their families said that military families are concerned about the effects of deployments and high operations tempo.

"With our nation's sixteenth consecutive year at war drawing to a close, military families continue to endure multiple prolonged periods of separation from their service members," said the authors of the 2017 Blue Star Families annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey. "The majority of military families indicated that the current operational tempo exerts an unacceptable level of stress, making a healthy work-life balance difficult to achieve."

The survey, done by Blue Star Families and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, showed about half of respondents had concerns in how military families connect with local civilian communities, medical conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, spouse unemployment and childcare.

About 46 percent of spouses and 47 percent of active service members called time away from families a top concern. About 40 percent of service members reported more than six months of separation from families within the last 18 months.

Cristin Orr Shiffer, senior advisor for research and policy at Blue Star Families, said the survey results "indicate that while the majority of our military members and their spouses are satisfied with military life, those who serve our nation are increasingly concerned regarding the impact of military service on their families."

Survey authors said the findings show the Department of Defense must do more to incorporate military families in planning.

Employment levels and pay disparities for military spouses was also seen as a key issue for respondents of the survey, with only half of spouse respondents saying they were employed. For those employed, a majority reported earning less than $20,000 in 2016.

Additionally, about 67 percent of respondents said they were not always able to obtain necessary child care.

However, the survey also found a level of happiness connected to military service. with about three-fourths of service members and spouses saying they were satisfied by military life.

More than 90 percent of veteran respondents said their military service had a positive impact on their lives.

The survey, which the group described as the "largest and most comprehensive," had responses from about 7,900 military family members in April and May. About 4 percent of survey respondents were based in New York.

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