--- title: "Two Incomes, One Career: The Reality for Military Families" description: "Military Spouse Careers: Why One PCS Can Cost a Family Two Incomes" image: https://www.aspiretech.us/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Military%20Family%20Transition%20in%20Modest%20Living%20Room-2.png --- [Skip to content](https://www.aspiretech.us/resources/two-incomes-one-career-the-reality-for-military-families#main-content) [See why states like Florida love Aspire](https://www.aspiretech.us/customers/florida) [![Aspire Technologies](https://www.aspiretech.us/hubfs/Logos/aspire-logo-dark.svg)](https://www.aspiretech.us/) [Platform](https://www.aspiretech.us/platform) [Company](https://www.aspiretech.us/about) [Resources](https://www.aspiretech.us/resources) [Sign in](https://app.aspiretech.us/licensing-credentials/login) [Get started](https://www.aspiretech.us/demo) Product [Overview See how Aspire works end-to-end](https://www.aspiretech.us/platform) [Capabilities What the platform does for states](https://www.aspiretech.us/platform#capabilities) [FAQs Common questions answered](https://www.aspiretech.us/platform#faqs) Trust [Security SOC 2, HIPAA, and enterprise-grade security](https://www.aspiretech.us/platform#security) [Resources News, insights, and case studies](https://www.aspiretech.us/resources) About [Our Mission Why we built Aspire](https://www.aspiretech.us/about) [Leadership The team behind the platform](https://www.aspiretech.us/about#leadership) [Careers Join us in modernizing licensing](https://www.aspiretech.us/careers) Get in Touch [Contact Reach our team](https://www.aspiretech.us/contact) [Request a Demo See Aspire in action](https://www.aspiretech.us/demo) Learn [Blog News and policy updates](https://www.aspiretech.us/resources) [Customer Stories See how states use Aspire](https://www.aspiretech.us/customers/florida) Platform Product [Overview See how Aspire works end-to-end](https://www.aspiretech.us/platform) [Capabilities What the platform does for states](https://www.aspiretech.us/platform#capabilities) [FAQs Common questions answered](https://www.aspiretech.us/platform#faqs) Trust [Security SOC 2, HIPAA, and enterprise-grade security](https://www.aspiretech.us/platform#security) [Resources News, insights, and case studies](https://www.aspiretech.us/resources) [View all Platform](https://www.aspiretech.us/platform) Company About [Our Mission Why we built Aspire](https://www.aspiretech.us/about) [Leadership The team behind the platform](https://www.aspiretech.us/about#leadership) [Careers Join us in modernizing licensing](https://www.aspiretech.us/careers) Get in Touch [Contact Reach our team](https://www.aspiretech.us/contact) [Request a Demo See Aspire in action](https://www.aspiretech.us/demo) [View all Company](https://www.aspiretech.us/about) Resources Learn [Blog News and policy updates](https://www.aspiretech.us/resources) [Customer Stories See how states use Aspire](https://www.aspiretech.us/customers/florida) [View all Resources](https://www.aspiretech.us/resources) [Sign in](https://app.aspiretech.us/licensing-credentials/login) [Get started](https://www.aspiretech.us/demo) [Resources](https://www.aspiretech.us/resources) › [Workforce Modernization](https://www.aspiretech.us/resources/tag/workforce-modernization) # Two Incomes, One Career: The Reality for Military Families ![Jacob Orrin](https://www.aspiretech.us/hubfs/Aspiretech.us/jacob-orrin.webp) Jacob Orrin May 20, 2026 · 5 min read ![](https://www.aspiretech.us/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Military%20Family%20Transition%20in%20Modest%20Living%20Room-2.png) American families already feel the affordability crisis. Ballooning housing and childcare costs - not to mention healthcare, groceries, and so much else - demand many families to stretch their budgets to the breaking point. For far too many military families, however, the problem is even more acute. Their budgets are past the breaking point. What’s worse, they’ve reached this point because of a structure stacked against them. That means it’s our fault. And we have the responsibility to fix it. Every few years, sometimes more often, military families pack up their lives and move to a new state, a new city, or even a new country. Children change schools. Support systems disappear overnight. Spouses leave jobs they worked hard to build. Professional licenses that took years to earn suddenly become difficult, expensive, confusing, or time-consuming to transfer. The result is that many military families effectively have one income trying to support a family that needs two. It’s unsustainable for our military, for local economies, and, most importantly, for military families themselves.   **The Hidden Cost of Service** To be clear, most military families need two incomes. According to the 2024 Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle Survey, 77% of active-duty military spouses said two incomes are essential for their family’s well-being. Yet military spouse unemployment remains dramatically higher than the national average. Blue Star Families reported that 23% of active-duty military spouses were unemployed in 2024, more than four times the national average. And that’s not even counting underemployment. *Source:* - Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle Survey 2024 [*https://bluestarfam.org/research/*](https://bluestarfam.org/research/) ![](https://www.aspiretech.us/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Jul-27-2026-06-15-31-5928-PM.png?width=550&height=300&name=undefined-Jul-27-2026-06-15-31-5928-PM.png) *Figure 1. Military spouse unemployment remains significantly above the national average.* The Pentagon moves hundreds of thousands of military households every year. Many military families experience a Permanent Change of Station, or PCS, every two to four years. For military spouses with specialized degrees, it’s already hard enough to start up a legal career, nursing practice, teaching position, therapy business, or cosmetology client base while knowing you may need to start over in another state before you fully establish yourself. Now remember that they have to wait months before they get their professional license recognized, meaning they cannot work in their chosen field, and you’ll understand why military families’ finances are too often in shambles. *Sources:* - Military OneSource PCS Overview [*https://www.militaryonesource.mil/moving-pcs/plan-to-move/pcs-the-basics-about-permanent-change-of-station/*](https://www.militaryonesource.mil/moving-pcs/plan-to-move/pcs-the-basics-about-permanent-change-of-station/) - Military.com PCS Reporting [*https://www.military.com/spouse/military-relocation/pcs-moves/3-big-pcs-changes-are-coming-once-heres-what-service-members-need-know-peak-season.html*](https://www.military.com/spouse/military-relocation/pcs-moves/3-big-pcs-changes-are-coming-once-heres-what-service-members-need-know-peak-season.html)   **When Reciprocity Does Not Feel Reciprocal** To their credit, many states have made genuine efforts to improve military spouse licensing portability. That progress matters and deserves recognition. Yet marginal progress isn’t enough, and there is a wide delta between passing laws saying state licensing boards must recognize military spouse licenses and those boards actually having the bandwidth and ability to process them on anything resembling a timeline that works for a military family’s budget. Further, for families living through the process, the experience can still feel overwhelming. A spouse moving to a new state will need to research licensing boards, gather records, submit fingerprints, and pay many fees (that quickly add up). For a family already juggling the time and costs of moving trucks (whose full cost the military’s moving allowance often doesn’t cover), school enrollment, housing uncertainty, and deployment schedules, the process is yet another obstacle standing between them and financial stability. And that’s not the worst obstacle. The worst obstacle is the fact that, even in states that have “automatic” military spouse professional license reciprocity required by law, it can take weeks or (more likely) months for an in-state license to be processed. And, all that time, military spouses are forced to sit at home and watch their savings dwindle. ![](https://www.aspiretech.us/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Jul-27-2026-06-15-31-8266-PM.png?width=600&height=350&name=undefined-Jul-27-2026-06-15-31-8266-PM.png) *Figure 2. Common barriers impacting military spouse careers and long-term earnings.*   **The Emotional Toll of Career Disruption** Employment is about more than immediate income. Careers provide identity, purpose, confidence, social connection, and long-term financial growth. Repeatedly interrupting a spouse’s professional momentum creates emotional strain that compounds over time. Many military spouses quietly carry feelings of guilt and frustration. They support their service member wholeheartedly while simultaneously grieving the career trajectory they imagined for themselves. Military spouse employment has increasingly become linked to military retention itself. When families feel financially fragile or professionally trapped, the stress affects the entire household. *Related reporting:**Axios: Companies Commit to Boost Military Spouse Employment Policies*[*https://www.axios.com/2023/12/06/blue-star-families-hiring-our-heroes-military-spouses*](https://www.axios.com/2023/12/06/blue-star-families-hiring-our-heroes-military-spouses)   **Technology Can Help** Too many reciprocity and licensing processes still feel fragmented and analog. Information is spread across dozens of agencies, websites, forms, and approval systems that rarely communicate with each other. Families should not need to become regulatory experts every time they cross a state line. A better system would have centralized guidance, automated document transfer, personalized workflows, faster verification systems, and integrated employment opportunities tied to location and credentials.   **Behind Every Statistic Is a Family** The hardest part about discussing military spouse employment is that statistics can accidentally flatten human experiences into percentages and charts. Behind every number is a real family trying to make life work while the whole family serves our nation. A teacher rebuilding her classroom career for the fourth time. A nurse waiting months for credential approval. A spouse quietly putting their ambitions on pause again because the family comes first. These families are resilient beyond measure. But their resilience should not become an excuse to ignore the crises they face. Crises, we should remember, that *we* have set up for them by needing their service yet ignoring their needs. There is simply no excusefor systems to remain so unnecessarily difficult. We can do better. **Primary References** - - Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle Survey[https://bluestarfam.org/research/](https://bluestarfam.org/research/) - Military OneSource Spouse Survey Findingshttps://www.militaryonesource.mil/data-research-and-statistics/survey-findings/spouse-voices/ - DoD Demographics Dashboard[https://demographics.militaryonesource.mil/chapter-6-spouse-employment/](https://demographics.militaryonesource.mil/chapter-6-spouse-employment/) - Military.com PCS Reporting[https://www.military.com/spouse/military-relocation/pcs-moves/3-big-pcs-changes-are-coming-once-heres-what-service-members-need-know-peak-season.html](https://www.military.com/spouse/military-relocation/pcs-moves/3-big-pcs-changes-are-coming-once-heres-what-service-members-need-know-peak-season.html) #### On this page ![Jacob Orrin](https://www.aspiretech.us/hubfs/Aspiretech.us/jacob-orrin.webp) Written by ### Jacob Orrin Jacob Orrin is the COO of Aspire Technologies and founder of the ASPIRE Coalition, a national initiative advocating for professional licensing reciprocity for military families. He previously co-founded Merit, a GovTech 100 company, where he led the deployment of credential verification and licensing systems across more than 20 states. His writing on workforce policy and national security has appeared in the National Security Journal, 19FortyFive, and Fast Company. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacoborrin/) [Book a meeting](https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/jacob-orrin/demo-discovery) ## Related articles ### Stay in the loop Policy updates, product news, and insights — delivered to your inbox. Unsubscribe anytime. See our [Privacy Policy](https://www.aspiretech.us/privacy). ## Ready to see what Aspire can do? See how Aspire can help your state deliver on its portability mandate. [Request a demo](https://www.aspiretech.us/demo) [Contact us](https://www.aspiretech.us/contact) ### Client login Access the Aspire dashboard to manage applications, track licensing status, and run reports. 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