Employment & Training Opportunities for Service Family Members


To date, we have received 204 votes for this survey which were gathered from workshops and on-line activities. 68% of respondents were serving while 32% were non-serving family members. 87% of voters were married and those who completed the survey came from across the rank structure and age range. 65% of respondents lived in SFA or SSFA, while a further 21% lived in their own homes and 9% resided in Single Living Accommodation (SLA).


The nature of RAF life meant that three quarters of non-serving spouse/partners had had to leave a job because the serving family member had been posted. This frequent disruption to the career paths of our non- serving family members has a direct impact on their ability to find and retain meaningful employment and it


also undermines their confidence as gaps in CVs are hard to explain and many employers are deeply suspicious of the length of time a military partner will commit to the job.


Families have also faced problems when applying for work-related state benefits, with many telling us that they felt that staffs in the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) still do not understand how difficult it can often be when you are a military spouse/partner.


Anecdotal evidence suggests that some respondents felt that they were not receiving the right support from the DWP, despite the introduction of the Armed Forces Champions in JobCentre Plus offices some time ago, as a result of the Service Personnel Command Paper in 2008.


www.raf-ff.org.uk


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