Military Spouses Fed Up With PCS Struggles, Survey Says

A new survey found that record rates of Active-duty military spouses want to leave the military community, with a large number of them frustrated by the difficulty of finding employment, child care, and reimbursement for moving costs after a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move.

Thirty-two percent of spouses favored leaving the military in 2024, the highest percentage ever reported on the Active-duty Spouse Survey, which the Defense Department’s Office of People Analytics has conducted every other year since 2006 to gauge spouse employment, education, child care, financial status, and other factors. 

The percentage of spouses satisfied with the military way of life hit a low at 48 percent. Multiple studies show that spousal support is an important factor affecting troops’ retention decisions.

PCS Blues

Frustrations with the PCS process was widespread among military spouses, with 49 percent of respondents saying that finding employment constituted a large or very large problem during PCS season.

That’s a problem when an increasing number of military spouses are in the civilian workforce: 69 percent in 2024 compared to 64 percent in 2021 and 61 percent in 2012. Spouses who made a PCS move were about 33 percent more likely to be unemployed than spouses who had not, the study found.

Employment is an ongoing challenge for many military spouses, who face differing license or exam requirements between states for the same jobs; employers reluctant to hire military spouses; and lack of affordable child care at many bases. 

Unemployment ticked down slightly from 21 percent in 2021 to 20 percent in 2024, but underemployment was still a common concern, with 41 percent of employed spouses saying that they should have a higher position given their credentials, 41 percent saying they are paid less than others with similar credentials, and 27 percent taking a job outside their field. About 62 percent of military spouses have an associate, bachelor’s, or advanced degree.

Besides employment challenges, the process of PCSing was frustrating for many spouses. About 40 percent flagged un-reimbursable moving costs as a large concern, while 35 percent said the same thing about settling claims for damaged or missing household goods, and 31 percent said the same about waiting for permanent housing to become available.

 “In 76 years of the United States Air Force, we have not figured out how to move people without having all of your stuff broken, without your movers holding your things hostage, without creating extra expenses, stress,” Alex Wagner, then-assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, told the Air Force Sergeants Association last August. “It is mindblowing to me.”

Last summer, U.S. Transportation Command began implementing a new contract it said would improve the PCS shipment experience. The Global Household Goods Contract (GHC) hired a single company, HomeSafe Alliance, to coordinate the scheduling, packing, and moving functions performed by hundreds of other companies. 

The GHC was meant to improve communication, reduce wait times, and increase transparency for shipments through new mobile tracking tools. But the transition has been rocky, with long delays, missed pickups, poor communication, and higher out-of-pocket costs for families, according to the National Military Family Association.

Child Care and Income

About 54 percent of Active military spouses with at least one child under the age of 18 flagged the lack of child care at a new duty location as a key problem during the PCS process, while 43 percent said the same thing about their children changing schools, and 28 percent felt the same way about the availability of special or educational services.

Military child care is a scarce resource, with long waiting lists across the services. The survey found 53 percent of Active spouses with children 13 years old or younger used civilian child care without military fee assistance, compared to 37 percent using a military child care center. Top reasons for not using military child locations included lack of availability (73 percent) and inconvenient location (59 percent).

On top of all that, 60 percent of spouses described their financial situation as comfortable, a 10 percent drop from 2019 and lower than nearly all years back to 2006. About 13 percent of Active-duty spouses are on some form of nutrition assistance program, such as WIC (Women, Infants, and Children).

The survey results caught the attention of Defense Department officials.

“We pay a lot of attention to the spouses [who] share that they are dissatisfied with the military [and] would not support remaining,” Tim Dill, deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said in a release. “And one particular concern that I think highlights just [one of the] many of the challenges that military families face is the PCS move.”

Advocates at NMFA were also alarmed, calling the survey “a sobering picture of life on the home front.”

“While service members may wear the uniform, the entire family serves, and this downward trend reflects a growing strain on military households,” NMFA added. “When families are unhappy, retention suffers, and ultimately, so does readiness on a national level.”