Military Spouse Employment: 5 Recommendations for Removing Barriers to Entrepreneurship
Introduction
In recent years, a growing number of military spouses have begun leveraging advances in technology to transition away from traditional employment to operating their own businesses or engaging in contract work. In 2014, 28 percent of military spouses reported that they had either been self-employed or operated their own businesses, and 34 percent indicated they had an interest in online or work-from-home opportunities, according to a survey administered by Blue Star Families.1
Maintaining traditional employment and advancing in careers while relocating every few years —and taking care of children, oftentimes on their own—has historically been a hardship military spouses have found extremely difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. In 2016, 50 percent of female military spouses cited family obligations as a top career obstacle,2 which should come as no surprise considering the long-term effects frequent relocations have on career advancement, seniority accrual, and earnings growth. In the same survey referenced above, 77 percent of military spouse respondents reported that being a military spouse had negatively impacted their careers. Choosing the life of a military spouse has, in turn, generally meant that the spouse must give up career aspirations of their own in lieu of their servicemember's. For many, however, those days may be numbered.
Today, many educated, resourceful, and resilient spouses who a generation ago likely would have been discouraged from working are now leveraging the skills they have developed managing a military family to create scalable businesses or are engaging in remote contract work—both considered “portable careers”—that can move with them when the military relocates their families to the next duty station.
There has been, in turn, a growing recognition that promoting entrepreneurship and removing barriers to starting small businesses and engaging in contract work among military spouses is a vital component to (1) family financial readiness, (2) military retention, and (3) a successful transition back into civilian life.3
The purpose of this white paper is to describe some of the challenges and barriers military spouses face in starting their own businesses that were outlined in the National Military Spouse Network's 2018 panel discussion with military spouse entrepreneurs and to outline some of the ways these challenges and barriers may be addressed.
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1 Blue Star Families, Department of Research and Policy (2014) Military Family Lifestyle Survey, Findings and Analysis. Washington, D.C.
2 Bradbard, D.A., Maury, R., Armstrong, N.A. (2016). The Force Behind the Force: A Business Case for Leveraging Military Spouse Talent (Employing Military Spouses, Paper No. 1). Syracuse, NY: Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Syracuse University.
3 Blue Star Families, Department of Research and Policy (2017) Military Family Lifestyle Survey, Findings and Analysis. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from: https://bluestarfam.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/MFLS-ComprehensiveReport17-FINAL.pdf