2017 Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle Survey

What does it mean to serve our country today? From the experts on military life comes this year's essential snapshot of the strengths and challenges of our nation's bravest families. All the data, findings, and recommendations in this report come straight from military families themselves, offering a unique opportunity for their experiences to be heard. Since 2009, Blue Star Families' annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey has provided a yearly overview of the opportunities and obstacles encountered by military families. The survey's response rate makes it the largest and most comprehensive survey of service members, veterans, and their families available today. Whether you are a leader in philanthropy, community, government, or academia, the survey offers you crucial insight to the sacrifices that military families make to keep all of us safe. Your purchase of the survey report will elevate the voices of families who sacrifice so much for all of us by supporting Blue Star Families' work to tell the story of military life to a broad audience and ensure all Americans understand what it takes to protect our country. For more information on Blue Star Families, visit bluestarfam.org

A comprehensive guide to the lives and experiences of military service members, veterans, and their families in the United States today, with special emphasis given to those of the post-9/11 era. This reference work provides detailed information on the issues U.S. service members face both stateside and during deployments overseas. Issues covered include relations with family; substance use; housing; educational and job training opportunities; post-traumatic stress disorder and other health issues; and experiences of women, sexual minorities, and ethnic/racial minorities in the armed services. This set also examines major issues related to military service for people close to the men and women who serve our country, such as spouses or partners, children, and parents grappling with such issues as single parenthood during deployment and bereavement at the loss of a loved one. Finally, this set is a valuable resource for people seeking a greater understanding of the issues that confront some military service members and veterans, from chronic health problems to economic vulnerability to suicide to incarceration. The two volumes are written in a comprehensive yet succinct and accessible style by experts familiar with the latest trends and findings.

The U.S. military has been continuously engaged in foreign conflicts for over two decades. The strains that these deployments, the associated increases in operational tempo, and the general challenges of military life affect not only service members but also the people who depend on them and who support them as they support the nation â€" their families. Family members provide support to service members while they serve or when they have difficulties; family problems can interfere with the ability of service members to deploy or remain in theater; and family members are central influences on whether members continue to serve. In addition, rising family diversity and complexity will likely increase the difficulty of creating military policies, programs and practices that adequately support families in the performance of military duties. Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society examines the challenges and opportunities facing military families and what is known about effective strategies for supporting and protecting military children and families, as well as lessons to be learned from these experiences. This report offers recommendations regarding what is needed to strengthen the support system for military families.

Change is a given in the United States military, but the soon to be applied “Blended Retirement System” is a financial change like no other the military has ever experienced. It is a huge deal that will not only affect the wallets of many active duty service members today and certainly 100% of them beginning in 2018, but it could also have a significant impact on future recruiting and retention of our volunteer military force. Mission Transition: Managing Your Career and Your Retirement is a needed introduction of the military’s new “Blended Retirement System,” representing the big shift in how the DoD manages military retirements. In the process, it encourages service members to adopt the new concept of retirement in the military, improve their own financial literacy, and assume responsibility for their own retirement planning. Finally, it provides new civilian job survival tips and strategies for service members in the process of leaving the military for civilian life. For those who are contemplating joining the armed forces and who wish to better understand the myriad of changes to the overall military retirement system this is the ideal guide.

The Routledge Handbook on Financial Social Work explicates the financial needs, issues, and interventions within populations and theoretical approaches, and it assists clinician practitioners in intervening expertly and comprehensively. This book covers a range of issues in populations seeking services around complex financial needs and struggles, including those in the child welfare system; those with housing issues or facing homelessness; those coping with chronic and acute medical and psychiatric illnesses; those recovering from interpersonal violence; those facing recovery from incarceration; children and families involved in the child welfare system; and much more. In addition, policies will be woven in to inform the work. This book thoroughly explores research and evidence-based interventions around each population, and teaches clinicians to understand and treat financial distress holistically and empathically. This handbook will explain why understanding financial capability in these populations is so critical and how clinicians can step up their practices to meet those needs. Professionals from multiple disciplines ranging from financial therapists to social workers to financial coaches to financial planners will find this handbook eminently useful.

This volume utilizes interdisciplinary theories, methods, and approaches to study the educational and career experiences of military spouses with advanced degrees. It analyzes the unique career and educational experiences that military spouses with advanced degrees face while trying to attain their goals amidst military relocations and deployments.