A Demographic Strong in Numbers
The old adage “If the military wanted you to have a family, they would have issued you one.” doesn’t hold much truth in today’s modern military. As a matter of fact, there are more family members (58%) than there are military personnel (42%) – a staggering statistic. So who are we? Let’s break down numbers!
Military Spouses by the Numbers
There are 1,110,767 military spouses!
Spouses of Active Duty Members
Army – 308,269
Navy – 151,491
Marine – 87,697
Air Force – 162,319
Total: 709,776
There are 152,992 spouses married to Active Duty Officers.
There are 556,784 spouses married to Active Duty Enlisted.
There are 49,772 male spouses.
There are 660,004 female spouses.
Spouses of National Guard and Reserve Members
Total – 400,991
The Age of Military Spouses
23.5% of spouses are 26 to 30 years of age.
22.8% of spouses are 25 years of age or younger.
20.3% of spouses are 41 years of age or older.
19.1% of spouses are 31 to 35 years of age.
14.4% of spouses are 36 to 40 years of age.
The national average for unemployment is 5.5%. The average unemployment rate for military spouses is 26%, which accounts for approximately 90,000 spouses.
80-85% of military spouses who are unemployed want to work.
In 2012, 43,000 spouses established MyCAA accounts, and 36,000 applied for and received financial assistance for their education.
According to a 2008 survey by the Department of Defense, 84% of all military spouses have at least some college education; 25% of military spouses have obtained a bachelor’s degree and 10% have gone on to get an advanced degree.
Our Other Half
52.6% of military personnel are married.
Among junior enlisted personnel (ranks E1 – E5) 36% of men and 37% of women are married.
Only 45% of enlisted women are married while 55% of enlisted men are married.
52% of female officers and 72 % of male officers are married.
Our Military Kids
43% of military personnel have a dependent child or children.
1.2 million Active Duty military children
37.5% are from birth to 5 years of age
30.4% are 6 to 11 years of age
24.9% are 12 to 18 years of age
7.2% are between 19 and 22 years of age
Active (Duty) Kids
517,734 children in preschool (ages 0-5)
516,324 children in primary school (ages 6-14)
186,883 children in high school or older (ages 15-22)
There are 731,632 National Guard and Reserve children.
Approximately 220,000 children currently have at least one deployed parent.
Not Just Children
There are 12,890 adult dependents ages 23 and older among the families of Active Duty members and Selected Reserves.
Numbers Matter
62% of alleged spouse abusers were Active Duty members and 38% were civilian spouses. Of the total number of alleged abusers, 67% were male and 33% were female.
The number of substantiated child maltreatment cases reported to Family Advocacy was 5.7 cases per thousand children in fiscal year 2010.
Thoughts?
Are you surprised by these statistics? Did you realize how many children still have at least parent deployed? Or that the unemployment rate for spouses is a whopping 26%? We’d love your take on these numbers!
Sources:
2012 Demographics Profile of Military Family
The Future of Children – Military and Children Families Report Fall 2013
Working Around The Military – Challenges of Military Spouse Employment
The ages of the spouse is interesting. The numbers given add up to 100.1% yet there is no mention of spouses under the age of 23 and over the age of 40.