The active-duty community's uncertainty about their future and concerns about their own financial stability are clear in the results of this year's Blue Star Families annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey.

More than two-thirds identified concerns about military pay and benefits, and possible changes in retirement, according to the report on the fifth annual survey, which will be publicly released today. Those issues were the top concerns regardless of demographic subgroups – active duty spouses, veterans and active duty service members.

Researchers broke out the results by subgroups for the first time this year. Of the 6,270 people who responded to the online survey in February, more than half were active-duty spouses. This year Blue Star Families also worked with Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families to design the survey, and worked together with other military community organizations to distribute the survey to their members. This is not a random sampling, but the demographics of those who responded are similar to the demographics in the DoD 2012 Demographic Report, according to researchers.

Sixty-four percent of those who responded are in the 25-44 age group; 52 percent are in the ranks of E5 to E9.

"We're seeing that people are wondering what's going to happen to their pay and benefits," said Deborah Bradbard, director of Blue Star Families' office of research and policy. The Defense Department has proposed a variety of cuts in benefits such as basic allowance for housing, commissaries and other areas, and the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission is reviewing all benefits, including retirement benefits. "Multiple things are likely to change at once.... It equates to money out of pocket. We don't know which things will change and what the final dollar impact will be," Bradbard said.

"We have policy changes happening at the national level, but the impact will be felt at the family level, and people are waiting to see what that means to them personally," she said.

Part of the value of the survey, she said, is to have actual numbers to present to policymakers to show why issues are important.

Almost half – 49 percent – of service members and spouses reported that financial issues were a top stressor during their time in the military, and 60 percent said their family's current financial situation causes "some stress" or "a great deal of stress." The top three obstacles to their financial security are spouse employment, uncertainty in military life, and uncertainty in potential changes in benefits, they reported.

"I made choices about my career 15 years ago based on what we thought we could expect upon retirement. We cannot undo those choices if promises are rescinded," says a Marine Corps spouse quoted in the report.

According to this survey, 36 percent of active duty and spouse respondents report that their costs for renting are higher than their BAH.

An emerging issue that merits more attention is the mental health of veteran spouses, Bradbard said. Higher percentages of veteran spouses reported symptoms of depression than their active duty counterparts. "There is not a lot of research on that population," Bradbard said, noting that the spouses transition from their military community connections, and may not have access to the same resources after the service member leaves. There is growing discussion in DoD and in military service organizations about transition issues related to the whole family.

The survey covered a wide range of topics. According to those who responded to the survey, the five most used DoD services were the commissary and exchange (95%); military health care system (82%), morale, welfare and recreation (72%), base housing (61%), and child development centers (33%).

The availability of affordable, good-quality child care has been a perennial issue for military families. The report notes that while child care initiatives have expanded, "survey results indicated that growth has not kept up with demand." More than 67 percent of these military spouses reported that lack of child care has had an impact on their ability to pursue employment or education.

"We're seeing such great momentum in the area of spouse employment, and we would like to see [DoD and nonprofit groups] link these resources to child care resources," Bradbard said.

Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.

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