b'Military Spouse Appreciation DayA day to honor military spouses with appropriateceremonies and activities, Friday, May 10th, 2019. Military Spouse Appreciation Day recognizes the important role our military families play in keeping our Armed Forces strong and our country safe.HistoryThe first Military Spouse Appreciation Day was observed on May 23, 1984. It was established as a one-off observance through a proclamation by President Ronald Reagan. The day was later made into an annual observance by Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger. In 1999, theU.S. Congress declared May as National Military Monthto acknowledge the service of the men and women inthe military.Military Spouse Appreciation Day, which is also sometimes known as Military Spouse Day, aims to bring national attention to the role that military spouses play in maintaining the morale of the military and in supporting their significant others while they serve the country.A 2013 Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense report estimates that men make up just over 7 percent of the Active Duty spouse population and the number of male spouses rising each year.Officers spouses were often discouraged from workingback in the mid-to-late 80s. They were expected to leadand support fellow military spouses in their husbands unitor squadron. If they did work, they filled mainly school teacher Spouses of service men and women stationed abroad are or administrative roles. Spouses were discouraged from particularly disadvantaged, as foreign hosts often do not pursuing professional careers on their own. grant spousal work visas.Today military spouses work in many different But even stateside assignments can bring difficulties. professions and are often encouraged by their Active DutyMilitary families typically move every two to three years, spouses to climb the career ladder.requiring frequent labor market adjustments for those who A growing number of spouses have become entrepreneursdo not have remote work arrangements. In anticipationand start businesses that can be relocated when they areof frequent moves, employers may be reluctant to hire military moved to a new location. spouses or they may offer these workers a lower wage in an Military Spouses attempt to recover turnover costs. Moreover, short cycles in each location may make it more difficult for military spouses in the Labor Market to recoup the costs of occupational licensing and other fixed Council of Economic Advisers costs of labor force participation. Indeed, military spouses Press release: May 9, 2018 may be the quintessential trailing spouse, their situation American military spouses, who number approximatelymade even more challenging because their families encounter 690,000, are a diverse population. Like their active dutylocation assignments, rather than location choices, and the husbands and wives, they come from varying racial andresult may not be conducive to employment. Indeed, the ethnic backgrounds, and bring a diversity of skills to the laborU.S. Chamber of Commerce (2017) reports that manymarket. But military spouses face a particular challenge: theymilitary bases are located more than 50 miles from anoften find their labor market activities, including choices overurban center.whether to work, how many hours, and in what occupation,Read the full report:to be subject to the geographic and temporal constraintswww.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Military-Spouses imposed by their active duty spouse.-in-the-Labor-Market.pdf4 Military Appreciation Resource Magazine HApril 2021H Thank You For Your Service'