How Hiring Our Heroes Is Working to Understand the Impact of Employment on the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Military Spouses

Over the years, the concerns surrounding military spouse unemployment have focused on the economic impacts and impact to national security. Little is known about the impact of employment on the mental health and emotional wellbeing of military spouses. That is until now. 

Hiring Our Heroes, in collaboration with Starbucks and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, recently published the findings from the 2020 Military Spouse Employment and Wellbeing Survey. The results support ideas that we suspected, based on mental health research related to veteran employment, but we didn’t have the data to back it up. 

Survey respondents told Hiring Our Heroes that employment has a significant impact on their wellbeing. Many made an important distinction between finding employment and finding meaningful employment. When military spouses are underemployed, it negatively impacts aspects of their self-esteem. In contrast, meaningful employment leads to feelings of independence, satisfaction, and a sense of purpose.  

“… if I don’t work, I get very depressed. I don’t feel like I have a reason to get out of bed. Work is a source of happiness in my life. It’s my escape from … the uncertainty of military life. I can’t imagine not working.” – Navy spouse 

A staggering 32% of survey respondents indicated they were unemployed when this survey was conducted in 2020. In addition, 31% reported experiencing long-term unemployment. This rate is three times higher than the civilian long-term unemployment rate. The survey findings suggested that those who experienced unemployment for longer than 10 weeks appeared to see greater negative effects to their self-esteem. 

As a community, we can tackle these challenges. Hiring Our Heroes is committed to working with caring stakeholders to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our nation’s military families.