Supporting Armed Forces Families: Policy making through international knowledge exchange
Military personnel and their families are a diverse population across the globe. However, they share a set of unique challenges connected to service life including deployments and family separations, frequent moves which disrupt schooling, partner employment and family healthcare, dangerous work settings and combat-related activities, as well as the visible and invisible sequelae of combat exposure, injuries, and losses. In the context of increasing conflicts worldwide, advancing research into how best to support them is a growing national and global priority, addressing cross-cutting themes of conflict, war and trauma and the impact on adult and children’s populations. In this blog, Dr Gabriela Misca discusses the need for research into military families, why this is needed, what the implications are for policy making, and where there is potential for knowledge exchange.
In peacetime the role of the military is less obvious than in times of conflict, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the current and on-going conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have reminded the general public about the key role played by members of the Armed Forces in supporting communities facing natural disasters and the sacrifice military families make to enable service men and women to keep communities across the world safe. Against this context, attention has been drawn to the “crisis” of recruitment and retention, with many more active-duty personnel leaving the military than are joining with difficulties of balancing military life with family life cited as a key driver for the recruitment and retention issues.
At a time of considerable uncertainty in the world-wide peace, it is more important than ever to consider how to effectively support military personnel and their families. Our research is starting to look at the approaches taken internationally to support families. Governments have responded with various supportive policies linked to education, health or housing, but these differ significantly across countries. There is a need for a cross-comparative review of policies and their effects. In the UK context, the recently published UK Strategic Defence Review (June 2025) sets out the vision for “‘One Defence’: People, Training, and Education”, within which the crucial role supporting military families plays in the UK Armed Forces retention and operational readiness is highlighted. However, despite growing recognition, early work indicates that policy responses remain fragmented and often reactive, lacking an evidence-based framework that reflects the lived experiences of these families.
Researchers from the “Birmingham Military Families and Communities” network at the University of Birmingham are responding to this challenge by embarking on a 10-month study undertaking an international comparative review of policies supporting armed forces families. The study will compare national policies across selected countries, including the Five Eyes nations (the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) as well as selected European and Nato countries and will provide critical opportunities for cross-country transformative policy learning and innovation. The aim is to leverage international knowledge exchange to inform and transform policies supporting Armed Forces families by identify best practices, evaluate policy effectiveness, develop recommendations. Engaging with international experts and policymakers will foster cross-border dialogue, build networks, and promote mutual learning, contributing to a more inclusive and globally informed policy environment.
If you would like to learn more about this research, please contact Dr Gabriela Misca: g.m.misca@bham.ac.uk.
Dr Gabriela Misca is faculty member at the University of Birmingham, UK, where she is leading the development of the “Birmingham Military, Families and Community” interdisciplinary research network, situated at the intersection of policy, research and practice around supporting military personnel, their families, including children, and communities.