Effective Strategies to Assist Spouses of Junior Enlisted Members with Employment. Analysis of the 1997 Survey of Spouses of Enlisted Personnel

摘要

The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force each offer separate yet similar spouse employment assistance programs (EAPs). To evaluate these programs, and to provide a demographic and employment-related profile of spouses of junior enlisted members, the Defense Manpower Data Center conducted a survey of non-military spouses of military members in paygrades E5 and below. The survey found that two thirds of spouses of military members in paygrades E5 and below at least occasionally experienced difficulty making ends meet. Most of these spouses wanted or needed to work, usually at least in part to save money for the future and to get money for basic expenses. Thus motivated, many spouses quickly sought and found employment at their new locations despite such barriers as difficulty finding affordable child care. However, the majority of spouses in the employment market did not find a job that made much use of their skills and training. Very few spouses found their jobs through the EAP. Among spouses who were working, wanting to work, or seeking employment, a majority did not know of EAP services in the area in which they currently lived.