Posts Tagged ‘military spouses’

First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden hope to ensure the “Joining Forces” initiative results in a permanent structure that becomes part of the nation’s culture, the two said in an interview marking the one-year anniversary of the effort to recognize and support military families and veterans. The campaign’s first year has been incredibly successful, reaching its goal of obtaining commitments from 100 companies to hire 100,000 military spouses and veterans …

Military families will wear heart monitors as part of a University of Minnesota study assessing the stress of deployment on Guard and Reserve families. Minnesota was chosen for the study — which is scheduled to track 400 families over five years — because its citizen-soldiers generally are older and more likely to have families than service members on active duty …

Unveiling a new hiring initiative to aid military spouses, First Lady Michelle Obama announced Wednesday that the Joining Forces program had secured commitments for more than 15,000 jobs that will allow military spouses and veterans to work at or close to home. The new effort will offer spouses thousands of at-home employment opportunities in areas such as customer support and telemarketing, as well as jobs that are located near military installations …

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal last week proposed legislation that would benefit service members entering the civilian workforce and military families relocating from another state. The legislation would speed up the transfer of professional licenses and certifications for military family members relocating to Louisiana from other states and establish procedures for military personnel that credit specialized training into equivalent non-military licenses and certifications …

Military spouses would be eligible to collect unemployment benefits if they are forced to quit their jobs following a military transfer, under legislation approved by the Tennessee Senate last week. Currently, individuals who leave a job voluntarily in Tennessee are not eligible to collect unemployment benefits …

States can take a number of steps to streamline the process for military spouses to obtain occupational licenses following a move, according to a new report prepared by DOD and the Treasury Department. The report received a high-powered rollout at the Pentagon Wednesday, featuring First Lady Michelle Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey and Jill Biden …

Despite being more educated than their peers, military spouses are experiencing 26 percent unemployment, with the problem of underemployment likely exacerbating the problem. And for spouses that are employed, there is a 42 percent wage gap across professions in comparison to their civilian counterparts …

After 10 years of war and multiple deployments, the challenges for the spouses and children of service members are numerous — coping with mental health issues, finding a job in a struggling economy, and meeting mortgage payments and other expenses. Unsung Heroes, a new report from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, paints a stark portrait of the economic, education and health issues military spouses and their children face …

At a barbecue for military families held in conjunction with the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, the Beacon Council launched a program to help companies hire veterans and military spouses in Miami-Dade County as a step toward meeting their national hiring commitments made under the Joining Forces initiative …

A group of 17 family members who either care for wounded warriors or are the surviving spouses of fallen service members are studying entrepreneurship this fall at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management. The goal of the week-long residency program is to aid family members whose lives have been upended. Learning to run their own business could provide them the flexibility to pursue a career while offering care to loved ones …