Oversimplifying the Military Wife's Employment Situation

Recently, the Rand Corp. did a study on the employment patterns of military wives. Nelson Lim and David Schulker found that military wives are unemployed or underemployed at a higher rate than their civilian counterparts (in a lookalike group), with a whopping 43% Not In the Labor Field (NILF). This means that they are either unemployed by choice, such as Stay At Home Moms (SAHMs), or are no longer looking for employment because they have lost hope. The study examined differences between the wives' race, class, educational levels, and motherhood status, and made recommendations for getting more women in the workforce.

Jacey Eckhart, a military life consultant with a sharp tongue, takes exception to the study's conclusions, using her wide platform and speaking from a place of high privilege. She finds the study's suggestion that the military needs more daycare ridiculous. Women are NILF only because it is a decision they all make, preferring to be moms with soccer vans, homeschooling or running to PTO meetings or play dates day-in and -out.

She calls being a SAHM a purposeful choice; staying home is part of the need to hold yourself still when the rest of the world is spinning out of control. The love of a man in uniform is the catalyst to life.

Maybe.

As a military wife, and as a former sailor, the world that I live in has a measure of chaos, and my role at home does require me to hold fast to the rigging, so to speak, to keep us afloat. As the wife of an enlisted man, I know that we are not sailing a luxury liner, and while I love a cracker jack uniform, I also wore one once upon a time. I remember what it takes to support that career, and I know the reality of our financial situation. I know how long that waiting list is to get a baby into a military daycare — which costs far less than civilian daycare — and how important it can be when you are living on a military paycheck with no COLA (Cost of Living Allowance) in a high cost area.

The study further shows that class and privilege played a huge role in the so-called choice to be NILF. The lowest percentage of employed women were wives of the highest ranking officers, between O-4 and O-6 (the study didn't go higher than O-6). The highest level of employment was among women whose husbands weren't wearing high brass — enlisted or warrant officers (both of non-commissioned status). While Eckhart gives a brief nod to that class status, I think that when she hyperbolically dismisses the need for childcare on military bases she is dismissing the needs of women who are NILF by circumstance, and not by her “purposeful choice.”

I did agree with Eckhart in one area: Lim and Schulker didn't go far enough with their study. To truly get an understanding of military life, they need to do qualitative research. The study didn't mention things like Status of Forces Agreements (SOFA), availability of jobs due to economic reasons, or spouses with disabilities, all of which Eckhart ignores completely, though her job as a military life consultant should have reminded her to at least mention them. These are things that would keep someone NILF out of the workforce, and not by choice. Perhaps they each have something to learn.

Photo Credit: U.S. Army