Employment experiences of military partners revealed in new report
A new report examining the employment experiences of the partners of Armed Forces personnel has been launched by the University of Chester’s Westminster Centre for Research in Veterans.
The Exploring the Employment Experiences of Serving Partners report looked at how the employment experiences of military partners are significantly challenging. The nature of armed forces service life is unique and challenges such as regular postings with families having to move, operational deployments, lack of access to childcare, and employers' perceptions of military partners, impinge on military partners employment experiences.
The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust funded the 12-month study which had a full economic cost of approximately £100,000. The study was informed by co-production which involves the engagement of military partners throughout all stages of the project.
The aim was to understand the employment experiences of both accompanied and unaccompanied partners of regular Armed Forces serving personnel.
It explored the barriers and potential solutions to improving employment opportunities. The Principal Investigator was Professor Alan Finnegan, Director of Nursing and Military Health and the lead researcher was Dr Gemma Carr.
The report makes eight recommendations - Military partner status as a protected characteristic within employment law and policy; MOD to consider partner employment on new postings; Employer Recognition Scheme improvements; higher priority to partners employment; priority childcare places on camp for military families; access to IT facilities for partners; transferable learning credits and a central database provided by the MOD on overseas regulation for partner employment.
The University’s Westminster Centre for Research in Veterans supports the military community through innovative and high-quality research, educational provision and community engagement.
Dr Gemma Carr said: “The effects of service on a partner’s career have been cited as the most negative aspect of service life. This project enabled military partners to present their lived experiences. The impact of this project has the landscape to improve employment experiences for partners, who often sacrifice the most.”