“My child’s school wants a local emergency contact, but I don’t know anyone here.”
“I have a love-hate relationship with TRICARE.”
“I can’t find an employer who will take a chance on a military spouse.”
Anyone who has been a military spouse for any length of time is familiar with these anecdotes. Passed around at the playground, written in Facebook groups, said over coffee, these stories–and ones like them–are both moments of bonding and frustration. They’re anything but surprising to military spouses.
Because so few Americans know military families that are currently serving, those stories are largely unknown in the mainstream. And so, for the average American, they are surprising, if not jarring.
It’s time to widen our conversations past the playground, and Facebook groups, and the coffee shop.
That’s why Blue Star Families needs you.
The Blue Star Families annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey is considered a preeminent resource and snapshot of the current state of the military family. We partner with Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families to ensure that the survey is valid and research-based.
The Survey isn’t a collection of random or gotcha questions. They’re carefully selected and vetted so that you’re able to share a holistic picture of what military life looks like to you. We want to know about the financial stresses you face, child care issues, experiences with TRICARE, and your community, among other topics.
But the Survey also wants to know how you would change some of the trials and frustrations you face. That’s why we’ve included questions that ask you to choose your preferred solutions to problems in the military community and offer free response sections, where you can write more if you’d like. And if there’s something we missed in the survey, you also have an opportunity to tell us at the very end.
So, why is all of that important?
Put in simplest terms, the #BSFSurvey starts conversations. It helps to inform policy and to drive change because it says, “Hey! There’s a problem here!” where others may not have realized there is one. And that is vitally important and even more compelling because the Survey comes directly from military-affiliated respondents who are telling their experiences in their own words. And because the survey is conducted annually, the survey helps keep military families at the forefront of policy-makers’ minds.
From April 23 until May 25, those who are affiliated with the military community (including veterans and retired members) are encouraged to complete the #BSFSurvey. Once you finish it, you’ll be able to enter a drawing to win one of five $100 gift cards. Your experience as a member of the military community will help to tell the story of America’s service members and their families. Take the survey today.