Join Magister Campbell as he presents another episode of The Tower, A Third Side Perspective to military news for the Infernal Legion. In this episode we are discussing blue star families’ reluctance to recommend military life.
About The Tower
The Tower is a monthly segment of the Infernal Legion podcast. It presents a third side perspective on military personnel, institutions, issues, and news. The Tower’s host, Magister Campbell, is a veteran of the U.S. Army who served for five years from 1997-2002.
About Infernal Legion
The Infernal Legion is the first Satanic veteran’s service organization. Members of this group are Satanists (as defined by Anton Szandor LaVey in “The Satanic Bible”) and Veterans (as defined in Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations) of the United States Armed Forces.
The Infernal Legion exists as a non-profit organization designed to assist Satanic Veterans with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as well as with housing, employment, counseling, and much more. It also serves to promote the creative endeavors of Satanic Veterans and as a virtual, members only clubhouse for the warriors of the Infernal Empire, the elite of the Alien Elite!
Transcript
Intro
Company Halt. Left Face. At Ease. Listen up soldiers. While we are out here, you will take all commands from the tower, and I am the tower, do you understand? (Yes Sergeant)
Welcome to The Tower, your dose of military news delivered with an infernal edge. My name is Magister Campbell and today we are discussing blue star families’ reluctance to recommend military life.
Survey of Blue Star Families finds considerable reluctance for recommending military life
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2024-03-15/spouse-employment-blue-star-survey-13327689.html
by Jennifer H. Svan
March 15, 2024
Military families are growing increasingly unlikely to recommend an armed forces career to loved ones, with fewer than one-third of respondents in the largest annual survey of military life saying they would do so. Blue Star Families this week released the 2023 Military Family Lifestyle Survey, which saw only 32% of participants answer “likely” to a question about how keen they are on recommending service in the armed forces to a family member. That compares with 55% in the 2016 survey. A roughly equal number, 31% responded that they are unlikely to recommend military service, and the report did not say how the remaining third answered. The poll captured responses from more than 7,400 people worldwide, including active-duty military personnel, National Guard and Reserve members, veterans and their families. It was conducted from May to July 2023. Factors driving the decline include quality-of-life issues and financial hardships, according to respondents. For military spouses, employment was the biggest concern for the seventh consecutive year. It also is one of the primary worries for active-duty service members, according to the survey. The lack of affordable child care, difficulty accessing military health care and relocation challenges also were cited by families as concerns. Reversing the downward trend in willingness to recommend the military is crucial, particularly amid ongoing recruitment shortfalls, because “military families are the best ambassadors of the military lifestyle,” the survey said. Respondents were asked to select up to five military life issues that most concern them right now. The top concern of 53% of active-duty spouses was employment, followed by military pay at 38%. In the 2022 survey, 50% of military spouses cited employment as their top concern. About 22% of active-duty spouse respondents said they are unemployed, a rate five to six times greater than that of their civilian counterparts without a military connection, according to the survey. For service members, 46% selected time away from family as their top issue, with pay coming in next at 40%.
“Record-high U.S. inflation rates in the past two years have increased the need for two incomes for most American families, but military families still face tough barriers to obtaining two incomes,” the survey states. Those obstacles include the high cost and scarcity of child care, and the frequent disruption of spouse employment and child care arrangements by military relocations. The survey found that only 20% of spouses who need someone to look after their kids during work hours use base child care centers and only 5% use base-certified family care providers. Despite recent increases in military housing assistance, affordability continues to be a challenge because of the frequency of relocation and limited ability to decide where and when to relocate, the survey found. Almost three-quarters, 73%, of active-duty family respondents who live in civilian housing, regardless of ownership status, pay well over $200 per month in housing costs out of pocket, despite service housing allowances, according to the survey. That figure, however, is the lowest since 2020, an indication that recent policies aimed at addressing out-of-pocket costs are having positive effects, the survey said. To read the full survey report, go to https://bluestarfam.org.
Thoughts
- Only 32% would likely recommend service
- 31% responded that they are unlikely to recommend military service
- quality-of-life issues and financial hardships,
- For military spouses, employment was the biggest concern for the seventh consecutive year
- lack of affordable child care, difficulty accessing military health care and relocation challenges
- active-duty spouses was employment, followed by military pay at 38%
- 22% of active-duty spouse respondents said they are unemployed
- service members, 46% selected time away from family as their top issue, with pay coming in next at 40%
- Record-high U.S. inflation rates in the past two year
- military families still face tough barriers to obtaining two incomes
- 20% of spouses who need someone to look after their kids during work hours use base child care centers
- 73%, of active-duty family respondents who live in civilian housing, regardless of ownership status, pay well over $200 per month in housing costs out of pocket
- The United States has provisionally agreed (via a memorandum of understanding) to provide Israel with nearly $4 billion a year through 2028, and U.S. lawmakers are considering billions of dollars in supplementary funding for Israel amid its war with Hamas.
- While vets struggle to find support
- Families out of pocket cost rises