Less than a third of U.S. military families would recommend others join the military and embrace their lifestyle, according to a new survey by Blue Star Families.
Among its new findings, Blue Star Families’ “2023 Military Family Lifestyle Survey” revealed that 32 percent of respondents would recommend military service. That figure is down from 55 percent of respondents who said they would recommend military service in the organization’s 2016 survey.
Blue Star Families is a non-profit organization that researches the challenges facing military families. For its latest survey results, the organization polled more than 7,400 service members, veterans, and their families between May and July 2023.
Blue Star Families attributed the declining propensity of military family members to advocate their lifestyle to a range of challenges, including persistent quality-of-life issues for active service members and their families and challenges transitioning to civilian life after service. The non-profit also points to rising out-of-pocket costs for housing as another factor undercutting the likelihood of military families recommending their lifestyle.
Warning Signs For Recruiting
The declining propensity for members of military families to recommend their lifestyle comes as the U.S. military has faced notable recruiting shortfalls in recent years.
The U.S. Navy hit its recruiting goals for active-duty personnel in fiscal year 2022 but fell short when it came to recruiting new active and reserve officers and reserve enlisted personnel. The sea service marked an even larger recruiting miss in fiscal year 2023, bringing in about 6,000 fewer enlisted sailors, about 500 fewer officers than it hoped for its active component, and about 1,000 fewer enlisted reserve sailors than it sought in 2023.
The U.S. Air Force met its goal of recruiting new active-duty personnel in fiscal year 2022, but it acknowledged that it was missing its goal of attracting new Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard troops. In fiscal year 2023, the service reported missing its recruiting goal for the active component by about 11 percent.
The U.S. Army saw the largest recruiting misses of the past two fiscal years, ending fiscal year 2022 with 15,000 fewer new active duty soldiers than it had set out for, a 25 percent miss of its goal for that year. The service set out for 65,000 new active component recruits in fiscal year 2023 but came up about 10,000 shy of that figure by the year-end mark.
Military families have traditionally formed a major driving force behind military recruiting.
“Military and Veteran families are critical influencers for young adults’ decisions to join the military. Among new recruits, the most common sources of information about military service — outside of a recruiter — is from a friend or family member who served or is serving,” the Blue Star Families’ survey report states.
“Military and Veteran families have the ability to expand the pool of potential recruits by exposing civilian acquaintances to military life, promoting their positive experiences, and countering negative narratives about the military lifestyle,” the Blue Star Families report continues. “Conversely, they also can deter potential recruits from service.”
The survey found that about two-thirds of the military family survey respondents had shared their experiences with a civilian at least once within a month of taking the survey.
“This year’s research found that active-duty family respondents who agree that they feel a sense of belonging to their local civilian community also report greater well-being than those who disagree (48 versus 39), and are more likely to recommend military service to a young family member (4.36 versus 5.34),” the report states.
Military Families Revealed Struggles
Military life routinely requires members to move from one duty station to the next, taking their families with them. This comes with challenges like finding new homes and dealing with moving costs, and military spouses often describe struggling to hold steady employment.
The survey report states that one in five military active-duty family respondents cited struggles with a civilian spouse finding employment as a primary reason their family would leave the military.
“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 report states.
Blue Star Families reports military spouse unemployment rates remain at about four to six times the national average.
The military provides a Temporary Lodging Expense (TLE) for up to 15 days following a permanent change of station (PCS), the military term for a new duty assignment requiring a move.
While the TLE period lasts 15 days, 36 percent of active-duty family respondents reported using temporary housing for 15 or more days following a PCS.
Just 33 percent of survey respondents reported having no out-of-pocket expenses, while the remaining respondents described having leftover costs from such moves. 15 percent reported between $1,001 and $2,000 in un-reimbursed expenses following their most recent PCS, 9 percent reported having between $2,001 and $5,000 in unreimbursed expenses, and 4 percent reported having more than $5000 in unreimbursed expenses.
At least one survey respondent, the spouse of an Army service member, said their family still holds credit card debt from their last PCS.
“We are still in credit card debt from our PCS. Cost of living is rising. My children are young and need balanced meals. I spend my entire civilian paycheck on child care. We buy cheap food and skip where we can,” the unnamed Army spouse told Blue Star Families.
Blue Star Families advocates additional efforts to support military families as a key step to reversing the declining trend in such families recommending military service.
“Sustaining the All-Volunteer Force requires support from all sectors — communities and individuals, businesses, government, and military,” the organization said.
