Abstract: There is a general perception that military members (Regular Force members with full-time employment) and their families have better financial well-being and less financial stress than their civilian counterparts when, in fact, they probably face very similar financial stressors. Financial well-being, as used in this review, can be understood as “a state where one can fulfil current and ongoing financial obligations, have a sense of financial security, and is able to make choices that allow enjoyment of life” it will be used here as an umbrella term for different subjective (e.g., financial strain, financial stress) and objective (e.g., income, debt) measures. Financial stressors are operationally defined as life events or situations that may impact the family by producing changes in its financial situation.
Currently, a dearth of empirical studies is investigating financial well-being in military families, but the civilian literature on familial financial well-being is much more established. Researchers have identified several factors that may contribute to financial stress in civilian families, such as changes in family income and/or employment status, major changes or unexpected expenditures (e.g., medical, financial reparations, foreclosures), changes in consumer prices, and major life events (e.g., marriage, divorce, birth of children).In addition to these general stressors, military families also experience stressors unique to a military lifestyle, such as relocation and deployment. Therefore, despite the financial benefits of a military career (e.g., stable full-time employment, relatively high pay, and benefits), military families may in fact be more susceptible to financial difficulty and stress than their civilian counterparts. Taking the added complexity of a military lifestyle into account, a better understanding of financial well-being in military families, specifically the contributors of financial stress and its impact, is merited.
This special issue of the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health focuses on the financial well-being of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and their families, including families of recent members/Veterans. This article (1) discusses the financial benefits and disadvantages of a military career; (2) provides a general overview of the relationship between financial well-being, life satisfaction, and health in civilian populations; and (3) summarizes the current state of research on financial well-being in military populations. Specifically, the following identified risk factors are discussed: relocation, non-military spousal employment, deployment and integration, transitions and major life events, and marital stress.