According to statistics about 40 percent of military spouses are stay at home parents. In the civilian world the percentage of stay at home parents is only 23, about half of what the military population numbers are. There are several reasons as to why so many families come to this decision. Some families may have young children at home that they wish to raise or homeschool. Other families who are stationed overseas may have trouble finding work. Many spouses decide to go back to school and pursue careers that may have been on hold due to their spouses career. These decisions may be made by spouses on a case by case basis depending on duty station or they may simply decide that one spouse stays home until their children become school age. There seems to be great controversy over the fact that some people believe being a stay at home spouse is just as hard as being a member of the armed forces, others simply do not. Unless you have experienced the life of being a stay at home parent its hard to imagine all of their responsibilities and their day to day lives. As a current stay at home spouse my current duties include but are not limited to raising two kids under the age of 5, managing 4 dogs, cooking, cleaning, paying bills, all shopping needs, taking kids to …show more content…
Based on expert statistics, there is a rising number of cyberbulling of so called “Dependas” aka military spouses. This is considered any military spouse but it more so targets stay at home spouses. The main demographic behind this cyberbulling seem to be woman, in particular other military spouses. Thats not to say that service members themselves havent done damage by spewing hateful words either. There are people currently working to get laws passed to allow cyberbullying to be punishable by law, or at least have the DOD become more
This may be a difficult for women to accept given the fact that mommy has always been number one in the eyes of the world. However, mothers will tend to make up for time spent away from child when she gets home. Another disadvantages for women is having to take on the role has the primary breadwinner for the family. This not only reduce a woman’s ability to cut back on work schedule, but also prohibit her from changing careers if it simply does not suit her. There are disadvantages as it relates to men as well. “for one, they will have to endure the unconscious hypocrisy of a society which often wrings its hands over the lot of the housewife yet at the same time views SAHDs as freeloaders who have left their working wives holding the bag” Sacks (pg278). This quote is simply explains one of the biggest disadvantage men face as being a stay-at-home dad as they are constantly ridicule for their choices. They are constantly being criticized by society and their manhood is constantly being questioned for having their wives work and provide for the family while they stay home and take care of the children. This may sound unmanly to most stereotyped men. Another disappointing factor as it relates to being a stay-at-home parent is the feeling of boredom and isolation. Moms and dads who weren’t too happy about leaving the work place can feel even more alienated. This is explained in a quote by Glen Sacks from the short story Stay-at-home-dads, “In addition,
The authors concluded that the shorter that dwell time, the harder it is for military families to maintain a stable relationship. The authors also provided helpful information on family support and how stress factors can be reduced when military families come across deployment.
There is a large amount of military families around the world. About Forty- three percent of active military members have children (Website). These children face so many challenges and struggles in their life while having a parent in the military. Children of Active duty military members exhibit anxiety, depression and stress just as much as the service members and spouses experience. For instance the children experience going through multiple deployments, long separations, frequent moves and awkward reunions when their parents return home from deployment. Even more so if the parent has been physically or mentally traumatized from overseas.
According to the Department of Defense Education Activity website, “the average military child will move six to nine times during a school career”—three times more frequently than non-military children (DoDEA, 2016). Because of this, military children have difficulty in school due to “differences in achievement standards, school protocols, course offerings, extracurricular activities, and academic requirements” (DoDEA, 2016). According to the Department of Defense Education Activity website, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools are schools who serve more than 73,000 children of active duty military and Department of Defense families.
One thing that all military installations offer to families is a mock deployment line. A mock deployment line is a wonderful thing for a child to experience. During a mock deployment line, the child will go through all of the steps their parent does when preparing to deploy. It cannot be stressed enough to parents the importance of informing their children’s caregivers and teachers that a parent will be deploying. Doing so is a vital step in helping the child cope with the upcoming separation. The child’s teacher, once informed of an upcoming deployment will help the child cope by incorporating activities such as reading books where a family member is taking a long trip, or talking with all the children about how they feel and why they feel the way they do into their lesson plans. Parents need to make sure they do not put off telling children of the deployment, letting their children know about the deployment as soon as possible will provide them the opportunity to become involved in preparing for the separation. Children will want to have many conversations with their parents about the deployment; parents need to make sure that they keep the discussions honest, straightforward, and factual (Clash, 2008).
Over the past couple years in my pursuit of a college degree I have quickly learned how important every dollar is. I have been blessed to have had help from various other organizations based on my academic ability as well as financial need; however, it seems the expenses of higher education are never satisfied and there is always more money needed. That has never been truer than it is now as my husband and I prepare for a PCS move to Fort Belvoir and we are faced with the daunting reality that the schools in the Washington D.C. area are quite expensive in comparison to what we have been paying for. With that said, being awarded a Joanne Holbrook Patton Military Spouse Scholarship would be more helpful than I could truly express in a short essay.
A woman might still tend to stay at home while her spouse provides for the family. Most women was raised in a household where their mother stayed at home and took care of the family. However, they also stay home because they have a special connection with their children and they always want to be there
Military spouses face many challenges while pursuing their dreams, because they have all of the responsibility for the family as much as their military husband. The military family has to move place to place or move to a base in another country, it seems like really nice to go out and see the world, but afterward, it’s come with a lot of problems such as language, food, weather, etc. Military spouses just like another woman who has a dream and wants that dream come true, but before the dream come true, military spouses encounter unique challenges while pursuing their dreams!!!
from the service member. Due to the high cost of moving, as well as the inability of unmarried service members of low rank to live off-base, it makes more financial sense to marry. Once married the military then pays for spouse and family relocation, therefore when a permanent change of duty station is imminent tying the knot can seem prudent to a couple that is unwilling to separate. According to Lundquist and Xu, both warzone deployments and permanent changes of duty station can heavily impact a couple’s decision to marry (Lundquist). Both of these situations are common and frequent in the military, unlike in the civilian sector, and likely have a significant impact on marriage rates.
Canadians all try and balance the stress of personal life, family life and work. Canadian Military families experience the same kinds of challenges as well as the unique challenges that come from meeting operational needs of the country. National Defence and Canadian Forces This is a community that experiences frequent moves, experiencing isolation from family and supports and frequent long absences of a partner or parent due to operational deployments overseas and in the country. The military family is seen as the “strength behind the uniform” and an important factor of the readiness of the military member to engage in active duty activities; however, the isolation, ongoing relocation and separations have an impact on the family’s well-being
MILITARY SPOUSES AND THE CHALLENGES OF MILITARY Abstract Army life is unique to say the least. The subculture, with its own language, rules, acronyms and ways, is foreign to the general population. The Global war on Terrorism has brought more awareness and certainly more curiosity about Army life. (Krajeski, 2006, 2008, p. 5).Today, more than ever, the military spouse is a pioneer who travels to strange lands, rears her
Fathers struggle to find acceptance within the role of a stay at home dad because men have always been viewed as the breadwinner. It makes men feel worthless for not being the one providing for their family financially. In my opinion, there really is no difference with being a stay at home mom or a stay at home dad. Even for stay at home moms, people will view the women as a freeloader, and lazy just as with stay at home dads because they choose to be at home to care for their children. Whether it is the mother or the father that decides to be the primary caregiver or the breadwinner both will still benefit from it. Parents will still be able to save money, and care for their children by being a stay at home parent. In addition, this teaches children that there are really no gender roles. Men can do whatever women are capable of doing just as women are able to do what men are capable of
There are other factors, such as the marriage and employment law, that can make it harder for both couples to stay home more, the big issue here is health insurance. “Of the families that have health insurance, most access it through a parent's employer, but this benefit typically only accrues to employees who work a forty-hour workweek”(Wade 257-258) If a family does not have at least one adult working full-time, they would have to pay for health insurance
Yes there can be a lot of nice perks to being a military spouse. Great health insurance, a steady income stream, and even discounted products on your base stores, But there is also so many struggles us military spouses go through that other people don’t see. Every girl dreams of their dream wedding. I didn’t get to have that dream wedding. I had to plan my wedding all by myself while he was across the United States. I met him at the Florida airport and drove straight to our rehearsal dinner. I had one day to spend with
Ever since adolescence, I’ve always said “ I would never date or marry someone in the military.” Having stayed consistent, I was convinced that nothing could change my stance, but lone and behold I was wrong. Upon watching military movies or seeing military couples online I avoided the impact of becoming separated from my lover for months at a time, but it wasn’t enough to stop me from falling in love with the man of my dreams. Although us military wives are heavily criticized, i think it is important for people to know the sacrifices us women make so that our husbands can continue to keep our country safe.