Military Life Held Generally Satisfying to Spouses

The spouses of armed forces members are generally satisfied with military life but worry about its effect on their children and their own careers, a new study shows.

Military spouses report problems coping with frequent assignment changes, housing opportunities, separation from their husband or wife, the availability of child care and the experience of living overseas.

On the other hand, “the majority of wives are ‘somewhat’ to ‘very’ satisfied with the military as a way of life,” the study found.

These and other findings are contained in a study released Friday and based on a survey of more than 41,000 military spouses, who are overwhelmingly women, conducted in the spring of 1985.

According to the survey, the men and women of the all-volunteer military are increasingly likely to get married, and their spouses are likely to be better educated.

Most Have Military Ties

Not surprisingly, most of the husbands of wives who are in the military are either in the military themselves or used to be.

The study also found that the spouses of enlisted personnel are more likely than those of officers to work outside the home, more likely to be locked into lower-paying jobs, and more likely to say they work because they need money for basic family expenses.

Given the relatively young age of the bulk of military personnel, most of the marriages are fairly recent--”among wives of enlisted men, 44% have been married to their husbands for less than five years.”

That finding is important to Pentagon planners because there is a large and increasing demand for child-care services, the study said.