The other hidden cost is that of mental health. A life filled with military rigors inevitably gives way to things like depression, loneliness, addictions, and sometimes even suicide. Statistics tell us that twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day. Unfortunately, the statistics for spouses and family members are not as closely tracked. But based on the frequency of other indicators, like calls to helplines and medical data, we know that mental health issues and suicides in family members have also increased as the operations tempo of the military has remained high through more than a decade of war.
Unfortunately, openness and honesty about suffering from mental illness is not highly looked upon within the military community. In fact, 41% of active-duty respondents in the 2016 Blue Star Families Survey said that they were uncomfortable seeking out mental health care from a provider in the military system. Additionally, 40% of survey participants felt that if they sought out mental health care programs or services, it could potentially harm their career.
Finally, we have to recognize that under- and unemployment rates are not just gee-whiz facts for many military families. They are a matter of survival. According to Blue Star Families, 47% of military families had two income-earning parents, which is significantly lower than the general US population, among whom 66% of households have two incomes. As the cost of living rises, more and more military families need the extra income to survive. A 2014 article by ABC News indicated that over five thousand active-duty military families are eligible for food stamps. Low-ranking enlisted families are the most at risk of falling prey to financial burdens without a reliable second income; however, even as the family of a mid-level officer, we had our own struggles in surviving on a single income.
After I left active duty, we were just barely able to cover the cost of our average California home mortgage. Given that at the time we bought our house in 2007, real estate prices had inflated to all-time highs, there was certainly no room in our budget for niceties like traveling, entertainment, or eating out. I remember I would panic at night thinking about any sort of catastrophe that would cost us more than a few hundred dollars, because we didn’t have any extra cash to scrounge up should that situation arise.
To pass the time with as little spending as possible, I made it a game every day to take my two young kids on outings each day that cost no more than five dollars total. We had to get creative, but we eventually found our fun at the public library, the cheapest bakery in town, and in free public parks. I’m proud of the way we mustered through, but the extra stress and tension surrounding our finances during that timeframe is not something I’d ever wish on anyone, much less on someone whose sole focus should be on protecting our country.
The Answer Is Outside the Box
Thank goodness I’m hard-headed when it comes to getting something I want. In the case of my employment, I was determined to find the right kind of employment that would help me avoid the mental health traps I saw around me and to find something that worked around my family’s needs, despite the fact that I had few examples of successfully employed spouses around me.
Once I realized that the answer was not in a traditional job, I became like a dog with a bone when it came to pursuing my business ideas. I didn’t listen to the naysayers who second-guessed my decision. I put my head down, got determined, and found a way to make progress happen each and every day. If I hadn’t been so hard-headed and determined, I may have ended up unemployed, unfulfilled, and bitter after years of frustrating attempts to find meaningful work.
When I began my hunt for the perfect, flexible job, I quickly realized that traditional jobs wanted traditional employees. The kind of employees that can be relied on for years. The kind who don’t move away. And the kind that don’t have lives filled with uncertainty like deployments, single parenthood, and extra stress. The traditional world of work sees our military “baggage” as something that makes us less desirable. After watching military spouses continue to unsuccessfully try to fit the mold of traditional jobs, I quickly came to the conclusion that our non-traditional lives will never fit the traditional mold. So why do we keep trying to fit our military square peg in the traditional round hole?
I began thinking. What if we took a step back and stopped feeling apologetic for the fact that we don’t fit into the traditional work world, and embraced the lessons and blessings we’ve learned through our non-traditional lives? Perhaps the answer to the underemployment problem was not in the traditional work world at all. What if we took a clue from our grandparents, and took our employment destinies into our own hands? Not as employees, but rather as employers—entrepreneurs!
From Boots to Business
The concept of connecting business ownership to the military community is not a new one. In fact, my grandfather’s story was just one of many from his era. According to the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, after WWII, 49% of veterans started businesses with financial encouragement from the GI Bill. This carried through the Korean War where 40% of veterans continued the small business start-up tradition.
Yet since 9/11, only 4% of the 3.6 million veterans who have served in the US have attempted a post-service small business start-up. To put that in perspective, this 4% rate works out to 162,000 new veteran-owned businesses in 2016. In contrast, if veterans today were starting businesses at the same rate they did after WWII, that number would jump up to 1.4 million businesses. Additionally, since statistics show that veteran-owned companies employ an average of two additional veterans, we could logically estimate that in one year we could create another 2.8 million jobs for our country, simply from veteran business ownership.
The reason veteran entrepreneurship isn’t as widespread as during the post-WWII timeframe can be attributed to several possible factors. The first and most likely cause is that the post-9/11 GI Bill does not allow for low-interest loans like the version of the past provided. Another major factor is that after the economic crisis of 2007, it is much harder to obtain funding for small businesses. Since veteran-owned businesses are also 30% more likely to hire other vets, this lack of milpreneur start-ups has exacerbated the job creation problem over the last two decades. This is evidenced by a 7% decrease in vet-founded businesses from 1996 to 2014.
The Start-Up Nation
But we shouldn’t give up hope of seeing a new revival of military entrepreneurs. In fact, with the right mindset, we can create an environment that encourages the military community to capitalize on their strengths, to innovate, and to launch their own businesses. Imagine the positive ripple effect this could have right here at home!
Let’s look to the country of Israel to see a great example of how military service and the hardships of military life have provided the perfect foundation for great entrepreneurs there. Israel is a country that relies on conscription (mandatory military service) to maintain a robust military. All Jewish citizens in Israel, both men and women, over the age of eighteen are required to serve in the Israel Defense Forces for at least two years. The normal length of service is a minimum of two years and eight months for men and two years for women.
Authors Dan Senor and Saul Singer studied the success of Israeli entrepreneurs in their book, “Start-up Nation,” to uncover the secrets of how Israel, a war-ridden and relatively young country with a population of only 7.1 million people and no natural resources, could create more start-up companies than larger, more traditionally stable countries like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Their research discovered that when you combine the skills and resilience of military service, the persistence to succeed, a pay-it-forward attitude, and a spirit of “chutzpah,” you end up with unparalleled economic development.
According to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, “after the US, Israel is the best” place in the world for entrepreneurs. Tech start-up Waze, a mobile satellite navigation application, and something I use daily to cart kids to and from after-school activities, was founded in 2007. It was the first Israeli consumer-app company to be bought for over $1 billion, and it helped to set