Hungry military families are bad for America

After 14 years and 10 moves, military spouse Jamie S. finds herself unable, in her words, to “put food in our boys’ bellies” because the duty station her husband is assigned to is expensive, and she’s unable to work because child care is too high and jobs aren’t flexible enough to accommodate her husband’s training and deployments.  

She’s not alone — 33.8 million Americans are food insecure according to a new report from National Center for Health Statistics, and studies show that statistic includes more than one-quarter of enlisted families. That’s shocking and unacceptable — both because it’s a violation of the implicit contract that we take care of those who sacrifice for us through military service, and because it undermines our ability to field and retain a fighting force, which we all need for our continued freedom and security. It’s a factor in the Army failing to meet its recruiting requirements by nearly 15,000 people in 2022. It’s an even bigger factor because research shows that most recruits come from military families, and military families who are struggling are less likely to recommend service.

Jamie explained to me and my team at Blue Star Families that she and her husband sold their second car, didn’t renew memberships to the zoo or science museum for their four boys, and made other sacrifices just to survive. We believe that we as a nation owe Jamie and her family more than that.  

To be sure, there are those who are taking up the fight. Craig Newmark, the founder of craigslist, recently announced a $1 million dollar donation to my organization to address both food insecurity and the underlying issues facing military families. This builds on previous multi-million dollar gifts from Newmark and targets solutions more deeply. These funds will help tremendously but it’s not the end of the battle. We need the government to step up.

Military family food insecurity is different from civilian and even veteran food insecurity. It is caused by challenges inherent in the military lifestyle that require system change to fix. To be clear, much of the military lifestyle is awesome. As the spouse of a Marine who served 30 years, I know firsthand how terrific a lifestyle of service and adventure can be for a family. But I also know it’s not without its challenges. 

Multiple moves, not onto installations, but into local communities lead to broken trust networks so families don’t have local relationships and the ability to navigate challenges and solve problems. This exacerbates military families’ inability to field a second income in expensive markets — resulting in housing insecurity and the aforementioned food insecurity. 

Eliminating military family food insecurity will require system changes from the top down that strike at this fundamental issue. Federal and local governments and the military services must institute policy changes such as improving access to childcare, giving families more control in whether and where they move and, perhaps most important of all, removing the Basic Allowance for Housing from SNAP eligibility calculations. That our government disqualifies families from SNAP based on their housing allowance, which is already insufficient to pay for the housing they need, is unconscionable.

Military spouses like Jamie S. should never have to choose between the well-being of her family and her husband’s military service. We can and must act for the sake of our national security, and our brave men and women in service.

Kathy Roth-Douquet is the co-founder of Blue Star Families.