2012$military$family$$...

2012 Military Family Lifestyle Survey

Findings and Analysis

Funding for the Military Family Lifestyle Survey and event was provided by the Blue Shield of California Founda<on, Care.com, Facebook, and the Leichtag Founda<on.

Blue Star Families partnered with many of the country’s most respected military service organiza<ons to distribute our survey online via partner

websites, member newsleCers, and through physical loca<ons.

Demographics

1%

18%

12%

2%

48%

17%

General/Flag Officer (O7-‐O10)

Field Grade Officer (O4-‐O6)

Company Grade Officer (O1-‐O3)

Warrant Officer (W1-‐W5)

Senior Enlisted (E5-‐E9)

Junior Enlisted (E1-‐E4)

38%

21%

15%

11%

10%

3%

2%

Army

Navy

Air Force

Marine Corps

Army NaPonal Guard

Coast Guard

Air NaPonal Guard

Branch of Service Members

4%

8%

15%

30%

34%

8%

65+

55-‐64

45-‐54

35-‐44

25-‐34

18-‐24

Age of Respondents

23% 16%

15% 15%

13% 11%

4% 3%

Southeast

Midwest

Northeast

West

Southwest

Mid-‐AtlanPc

Overseas Military

Alaska or Hawaii

Region of Residency Rank of Service Member

Pay and Benefits (and changes to re6rement)

Spouse Employment

TBI/PTS/Combat Stress

OPTEMPO

Effects of Deployment on Children

Top Military Life Issues

Military Issues Ranked #1 by Respondents

Financial

Health and Wellness

45% • HAVE AN EMERGENCY FUND TO COVER THREE MONTHS OF EXPENSES.

67% • HAVE OBTAINED A CREDIT REPORT OR CHECKED THEIR CREDIT SCORE IN THE PAST YEAR.

68% • ARE STRESSED ABOUT DEBT, SAVINGS OR THEIR OVERALL FINANCIAL CONDITION.

Financial Security: Preparedness & Uncertainty

ü  68% of respondents contribute regularly to a rePrement fund

ü  64% of respondents owe less than $5,000 on their credit cards ü  Of the 59% who owned a home, 9% were struggling or had resolved their mortgage through a

short sale or foreclosure

No meaningful variations!between those with 20 years or more and those with less than 20 years of

service!

Assessing the Future: Transi6on Concerns

25%

16%

60%

Yes, full Pme (35 hours+)

Yes, part Pme ( <35 hours)

No

Are you currently employed?

92%

67%

45%

20%

17%

7%

Job Market Alignment (overqualified, underqualified or lack of career field opportuniPes)

Childcare (unable to find including cost & quality issues

Deployment or PCS challenges

Student

CerPficaPon/ Licensing challenges (due to cost or

interstate transfer)

Job Loss within past year (not due to military life)

REASONS FOR NOT WORKING OUTSIDE THE HOME

53%

27%

21%

Yes

No

Unsure

Would you like to be employed?

Financial Security: Spouse Employment Outside Home

11%

19% 52%

17%

2%

Significantly, negaPvely affected

NegaPvely affected, but not significantly

Some negaPve effects, but some posiPve too (i.e. pride in parents' role, experienced personal growth, etc.) Not significantly affected, either negaPvely or posiPvely

PosiPvely affected

EFFECT OF PARENT DEPLOYMENTS ON CHILDREN

5%

26%

28%

30%

11%

Strongly agree Agree

Neither agree nor disagree Disagree

Strongly disagree

COMMUNITY CAN EMBRACE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP MILITARY CHILDREN

DEALING WITH DEPLOYMENTS

41% of respondents feel their community does not embrace opportunities !to help !military children!

Family Well-‐Being: Children and Deployments

2%

21%

3%

7%

15%

8%

24%

25%

26%

19%

18%

23%

49%

21%

40%

During my spouse's last or current deployment, I am able to help my child

make in-‐school decisions which will affect his/her future in a posiPve direcPon.

My spouse's last or current deployment has negaPvely affected my child's

parPcipaPon in extra curricular acPviPes and/or community aler school acPviPes.

During my spouse's last or current deployment my expectaPons for my

children's rouPnes and responsibiliPes are/have been developmentally

appropriate.

Most Confident

Somewhat more confident

Confident

Somewhat not confident

Least confident

92% of respondents are confident that they make positive

educational decisions during a deployment.!

Family Well-‐Being: Children & Deployments

DEPLOYMENT RETROSPECTIVES

8%

59% 11%

7%

21%

What type of school is your child(ren) enrolled?

DoDEA School Public School Private School Home School Not applicable

Army and Navy families are more likely to send their

children to private school

~77% of respondents’ children have not apended a DoDEA school~

Almost 80% of respondents would be interested in a child empowerment program incorporating social, volunteer, educational, and support opportunities. !

Family Well-‐Being: Military Child Educa6on

Army families are most likely to

home school their children.

22% 21%

26%

16%

7% 7%

22%

28%

25%

12%

6% 7%

Less than 6 months

6-‐12 months

13-‐24 months

25-‐36 months

37-‐48 months

More than 48 months

Family Well-‐Being: Time Away

DEPLOYMENTS SINCE 9/11

TRAININGS, SCHOOLING, WORK UPS, TDYs SINCE

9/11

OPTEMPO, training, & TDY are also contributors to family separa6ons

3% •  Reported that their service member was diagnosed with a TraumaPc Brain Injury (TBI)

11% •  Reported that their service member was diagnosed with Post TraumaPc Stress (PTS)

26% •  Reported that regardless of diagnosis, their service member exhibited symptoms of Post TraumaPc Stress

“My husband has grabbed my arm or accidently bumped me in his sleep during his terrible nightmares. It is not purposeful and not directed at me, but we are dealing with it through civilian therapy.”! - 2012 survey respondent ! !

Deployments & Wellness: TBI & PTS

3%

4%

5%

7%

19%

22%

28%

35%

41%

Command Not SupporPve

NegaPve Image of Treatment

No Time Provided (OPTEMPO)

Fear NegaPve Career Impact

Unable to afford private counseling

Good services not locally available

Servicemember Refusal/Denial

Prefer not to answer

Lack of ConfidenPality

62% of the 26% of respondents that reported their Service Member exhibited symptoms of PTS indicated their Service Member had not sought treatment for the condiPon.

Why didn’t they seek treatment?

Deployments & Wellness: PTS Treatment

All Respondents PTS Service Member Respondents

Felt threatened or afraid of Service Member 5% 12%

Felt verbally harassed by Service Member “Olen” or “SomePmes” 11% 25%

Reports being physically hurt by Service Member “Olen” or "SomePmes” 1% 3%

Spouses that reported that their Service Member had exhibited symptoms of Post TraumaPc Stress were more likely to report feeling afraid of their service member,

or that they experienced verbal or physical abuse.

Deployments & Wellness: PTS and Rela6onships

Deployments & Wellness: Suicide Preven6on

Yes, my service member

has 9%

Yes, I have 10%

No 71%


10%

Have you, your service member, or other military family member, to your

knowledge, ever considered commiung suicide?

The % of spouses who have

considered suicide is almost equal

to the % of service members

who have considered suicide.

52%

35%

24%

17%

14%

14%

6%

5%

5%

6%

Counseling

Sought support informally from friends and family

Did not seek support services

Chaplain

Military OneSource

Visited online support forums or social media

Suicide PrevenPon Hotline

Military Family Life Consultant

Sought support from military-‐related non-‐profits


(If “Yes”) What support services did you seek for you or your spouse?

Great 11%

Good 49%

Average 27%

Fair 13%

ABILITY TO COPE DURING DEPLOYMENTS

60% of spouses reported their ability to cope

during a deployment was “good or great”! 64% of spouses felt post-‐

deployment reintegra<on was “very easy” or “easy.”

80% of spouse respondents reported that their service member had been deployed during their marriage.

While 86% of all military spouse respondents reported that they were “very happy” or “preCy happy” with their marriages, 27% indicated that they work out arguments with “some difficulty,” and 5% with “great difficulty.”

Deployments & Wellness: Coping, Marital Impact

Recent research has shown despite the added stress placed on military families from repeated separaPons and OPTEMPO requirements, military divorce rates are the same or lower than

civilian rates across age, race, and employment status.

USE OF DEPLOYMENT SUPPORT SERVICES

Deployments & Wellness: Avenues for Support

4%

5%

7%

9%

10%

17%

22%

27%

28%

60%

Deployment Survival Classes (Red Cross Coping with Deployments class, other installaPon-‐based classes)

Military Family Life Consultant

Chaplain

Sought support from military-‐related nonprofits

InstallaPon-‐Based Support Groups

Counseling

InformaPon on dealing with deployment (Brochures, Online)

Did not seek support services

Visited online support forums or solicited support via online social media (military spouse message boards, Facebook groups, etc.)

Sought support informally from friends and family

72% Email

71% Phones

54% Postal Service

54% Facebook

53% Skype

31% Instant

Messaging

Social Media: Priori6za6on in Communica6ons

77% of respondents say social media is important for communicaPng with their service member when deployed.

Which plavorms do you use to stay connected during deployments?

Military families are using social media to:

16%

17%

27%

35%

46%

67%

71%

Stay connected with unit

Look for jobs

Get Pme sensiPve info

Help kids stay connected to service member

Get updates from unit

Feel connected to service member

Feel connected to other milfams

9%

17%

17%

20%

36%

36%

57%

Stripes.com

Milspouse.com

BlueStarFam.org

DoD/Agency site

Military.com

Military OneSource

Facebook

Social Media: Info Gathering & Outreach Use

Do you use any of the following websites to regularly communicate with and gather informaPon within

the military community?

If you needed help with a problem regarding military family issues (for example: finances, deployment and reintegraPon, mental health resources, employment, or child rearing), from

which of the following are you most likely to turn for advice:

14%

14%

10% 38%

8%

15% DoD Resources

Unit Resources

Community Resources

Advice from Friends/Neighbors Advice via social media

Other

Intersec6ons: Measures of Civic Engagement

91% Believe the most important

reason to join the military is to SERVE THEIR COUNTRY

89% Of respondents are

registered to VOTE

82% Believe the military’s ALL-‐VOLUNTEER FORCE WORKS

81% Of respondents reach out to

VOLUNTEER

73% Support their

service member’s CONTINUED

MILITARY SERVICE

70% Express

MILITARY LIFESTYLE SATISFACTION

68% Believe assis6ng our

communi6es should be REQUIRED NATIONAL

SERVICE

60% Would advise youth by

RECOMMENDING MILITARY SERVICE

71% 64% 70%

23% 28%

25%

3% 4% 2% 2% 3% 2% 1% 1% 1%

2009 2010 2012

Completely Disagree

Somewhat Disagree

Neither

Somewhat Agree

Completely Agree

In 2012, 95% of respondents feel a

disconnect!

Intersec6ons: Military/Civilian Divide 4-‐Year Trend

To what extent do you agree with the statement:

“The general public (without close Pes to the military) does not truly understand or appreciate the sacrifices made by service members and their family.”

Intersec6ons: DADT Reversal Impact

ü 72% said it had no impact on their service member’s ability to perform their job

ü 68% said it had no impact on their desire to ahend social func6ons

ü 65% said it had no impact on their service member’s desire to re-‐enlist or stay in the military

ü 60% said it had no impact on their service member’s morale

ü 56% said it had no impact on mission readiness or na6onal security

ü 55% said it had no impact on their military support group’s morale

A majority of respondents said that the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has had no impact.

Conclusions

Big Issues: Pay and Benefits/Changes to Re6rement Military Kids – Effects of Deployment OPTEMPO Spouse Employment PTS/TBI/Combat Stress

Other Notable Issues: Communica6on – reliance on and use of social media plajorms con6nues to

grow Volunteerism – civic engagement and feelings of connectedness are strengths Financial Literacy – good financial decision-‐making benefits families Suicide – mul6-‐dimensional issue; include spouse data

Next Steps

Military and Civilian Leadership: ü Involve non-‐tradi6onal par6cipants from all areas of the military and civilian communi6es (public, private, and non-‐profit)

ü Highlight poten6al of partnerships between public and private en66es to meet needs

ü Targeted follow up with specific legisla6on aimed at allevia6ng some of the challenges presented to military families (i.e. veteran/spouse employment and children’s educa6on)

ü U6lize consistent messaging across a variety of plajorms Blue Star Families: ü Con6nue research into specified and emergent themes:

-‐ Best Prac6ces for mee6ng needs of military families -‐ Child Oriented programming -‐ Military Spouse Employment programming

ü Contextualize diverse research from other DoD and independent agencies as it relates to military family life

Please visit www.bluestarfam.org/2012survey

for more informaPon

2012$military$family$$...

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