Senator Murray Applauds Big Wins to Address Stubbornly High Rates of Military Spouse Unemployment

Several provisions of The Military Spouse Employment Act, cosponsored by Senators Kaine and Murray, made it into a national defense policy bill passed in Congress this week; bill now heads to president’s desk

Military spouses, who deal with frequent moves, extra parenting duties while their spouse is deployed, and sometimes even discrimination, face unemployment rates as high as 25 percent

ICYMI: Senator Murray sat down with military spouses earlier this year near JBLM to hear about the issues they face in their career search

(Washington, D.C.)  –U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) today applauded a bill that includes critical support for military spouses, who face far higher rates of unemployment or underemployment than the national average. The provisions included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) were inspired by legislation Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Murray offered earlier this year and will provide additional resources to help military spouses find meaningful employment, including:

• Expansion of MilitaryOneSource for retired and discharged members of the Armed Forces and their families, which helps provide job training and other resources for military families
• Temporary expansion of authority for non-competitive appointments of military spouses by federal agencies
• Improvement of the My Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) for military spouses
• Assessment and report on small business activities of military spouses on military installations in the U.S.

“Military spouses sacrifice so much on behalf of our country, whether that is enduring frequent moves, or holding down the household single-handedly while a loved one is halfway on the other side of the globe. But far too often, they are shut out of fulfilling careers because of their partner’s military service, which is just wrong,” Senator Murray said. “I’m proud that Congress not only recognizes this is an issue but was able to include support for military spouses in the NDAA. I look forward to building on this legislation in order to better support military families in Washington state and around the world.”