The military spouse plays a significant role in the life and morale of the service member: The spouse stays home and keeps the family grounded, safe, and functioning while the service member performs their duty. Many spouses also work full time, pursue their education, and help raise the family.
In addition to base pay, military spouses receive something similar to shared healthcare insurance. As a civilian or military spouse, you will have access to Tricare, which is the military's healthcare service.
The role of being a military wife doesn't come lightly. It means being supportive, loving, loyal, fierce, and reliable. While you know separation happens, no one can ever prepare you for the hole your spouse leaves in your heart when they're on a mission.
Being called a “Dependa” implies the military spouse sits at home all day doing nothing while their service member sacrifices everything to keep them comfortable.
Collaborate with government, private, non-profit, educational, and labor partners to support growing employment opportunities for military spouses. 92% of military spouses are women. 53% participated in the labor market, compared to 76% of the general population.
The life of a military spouse is undeniably challenging. Being away from your partner for months or years at a time, assuming the role of a single parent, trying to balance a career while moving so often – all of these realities of military life can take its toll.
You can do freelance work or consulting for companies all over the globe. As independent workers, military spouses can earn extra income, set their own hours, and work from anywhere in a variety of virtual positions. If you're not sure about self-employment, you may still be able to secure a position as an employee.
Life changes frequently for military families. We move a lot and our spouses deploy. Many military spouses I know choose to stay home so they can provide consistency for their families in the midst of chaos. "I'm able to stay home with the kids and cart them to and from school, appointments, etc.
Being married to the military can be harder than we expected. The unforeseen challenges we face our civilian friends don't understand. Most military marriages have rough spots from time to time. Military couples say that those rough spots are often temporary.
Service members and their families can use Space-A flights to travel around the country and world at little to no cost. Though sometimes unpredictable, military flights are perfect for families with flexible plans and limited travel budgets.
Being a dual-military couple is one of the few instances where a military member has the chance to deploy with their spouse. With the Married Army Couples Program, which helps place married service members in proximal units, some couples have the chance to spend their time overseas together.
As a spouse of an eligible service member, you'll qualify for up to 36 months (four academic calendar years) of educational benefits that include: 100% tuition and fee payments for in-state public institutions OR up to $26,371.37 per academic year for private or foreign schools.
When they are not busy organising or attending these meets, Army wives can be found playing the dutiful Army lady by visiting infants born in the families of jawans and patiently listening to and addressing any challenges that the wives of the jawans may be facing.
Military Housing for Married Couples or Those with Dependents. If you are married and living with your spouse or minor dependents, you will either live in on-base housing or be given a monetary allowance called Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to live off-base.
As the spouse or dependent child of a Veteran or service member, you may qualify for certain benefits, like health care, life insurance, or money to help pay for school or training.
Being a mil spouse is great, but deployment can lead to loneliness, and the loneliness is felt by partners, too. This feeling is completely natural, but there are healthy ways of coping with loneliness. Follow these tips to help navigate your emotions and find positive solutions during military deployment.
Your chances of having your marriage end in divorce are even higher if you are a female member of the military. The divorce rate among women in the military is 4.54%. The divorce rate among men in the military, meanwhile, is 2.9%.
Teaching and Education: Many army wives do pick up teaching experience in the years in service. With time, many of them also have the expertise to run a small school or training establishment. The field of education offers many avenues for army wives.
Holding your wedding in a military chapel is usually free, and the chaplin is performing his military duties so you do not normally have to pay him a fee, either. Be sure to ask, however, about their wedding requirements.
Although not known as "military marriage pay," service members do receive a pay increase as part of their housing and cost-of-living allowances after they get married.
There are roughly 710k active-duty military spouses as of 2022. Of those: 53% participate in the workforce (compared to 76% of the general population)
The difficult adjustment of reconnecting as a couple after having been used to being apart, coupled with other issues such as money, affairs, children, alcohol and physical abuse all increase the chance of divorce for military personnel. Overall, the combined divorce rate for the U.S. military is 3.7%.
The military's solution is to incorporate families in their entirety, and it pays the full relocation costs for each family member -- as long as they are married. This policy causes people to marry earlier than they had planned to, and sometimes to people they would not otherwise have married.