Military families report high stress and unemployment: NPR



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A 2017 report on military families released Thursday reveals that a large band of more than 600,000 active duty military spouses and reservists had to face various challenges because of their spouses' service.

Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images


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Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images

A 2017 report on military families released Thursday reveals that a large band of more than 600,000 active duty military spouses and reservists had to face various challenges because of their spouses' service.

Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images

It is not easy to be married to a soldier. Their spouses in 2017 have experienced high levels of stress, anxiety, depression and unemployment, according to a survey sponsored by the Department of Defense and released Thursday.

The survey reveals that a considerable band of nearly one million associates of active duty soldiers and reservists faces many challenges because of the service of their spouse when they are on the move. they are deployed on active duty or as a result of a move triggered by a new deployment.

Of 367,706 people who were married to Reservists, 92% said they felt an increase in stress during their wife's deployment, while 85% said they felt anxious or depressed. This also caused feelings of isolation – 88% said they lived lonely.

Love and military marriage

Overall marriage rates for military members generally correspond to national rates – about 50% – although active members appear to be more legally matched than reserve members.

According to the report, women members of the armed forces, who accounted for 16% of the force on active duty and 20% of the selected reserve, were less likely to be married than their male counterparts. They were about twice as likely to divorce.

Bi-military marriages – members of services married to other service members – accounted for 6.6% of all married couples.

Finding a job is a challenge

The survey found that the jobless rate of active spouses was exponentially higher in 2017 than the national average at the time. Nearly a quarter of the 612,127 active spouses reported being unemployed, a much higher percentage than Americans outside of the military. The unemployment rate for both men and women aged 20 and over fell from 4.4 to 3.7%.

In addition, people who had been forced to move because of the new deployment of a spouse were twice as likely to be unemployed. The survey found that looking for a job often took seven months or more after a move.

The unemployment rate for reserve spouses appears to be much lower, compared to 8%, but it is still twice as high as national statistics.

It is also unusually high since more than half of the spouses of Reservists have a bachelor's degree or higher. The national unemployment rate for the same group has fluctuated between 2% and 2.5% throughout 2017.

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