RAF Families Survey September 2003
Accommodation
The majority of respondents were living in Service Family Accommodation (SFA). The aspect of living in SFA that achieved the greatest level of satisfaction was the rent paid for it. Almost all felt that family situations should be taken into account when allocating SFA. When assessing local facilities, the HIVEs and Messes were the only areas which the majority rated as good. As in previous surveys the vast majority considered facilities for teenage entertainment to be poor.
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The majority had children, with just over half having two children living at home at the time of the surveys. Of those reporting problems with finding school places, most related to the 11-15 year old age groups. It was generally agreed that postings should be timed to coincide with school holidays and indeed the months in which most moves occurred were July and August.
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The majority were in employment, whether full-time, part-time or self employed. Of those who were not employed, most stated that they would work outside the home if they had the opportunity to do so. Most spouses felt that they needed to work for their own fulfilment and for financial reasons. However, over half of respondents felt that they had experienced discrimination whilst in a job due to being married to a member of the RAF and the majority had had to leave a civilian job due to their spouse being posted.
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The area of greatest dissatisfaction in this section related to the information available to spouses about RAF allowances. This was also highlighted as being the information that people wanted to see on the RAF website. The aspect that respondents were most satisfied with were furniture removal expenses.
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Consistently the issue of most concern in the area of health care is finding a dentist when moving to a new area.
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This section of the questionnaire covered a wide range of issues. Over half of respondents stated that they were 'fairly satisfied' with their quality of life. Although a small minority of people indicated that they did not like their life being married to a member of the RAF, the largest proportion felt that the RAF lifestyle had met their expectations. Respondents were most dissatisfied with information available to spouses whose partners are away, and the support given to spouses by the RAF.
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If their partner was to leave the RAF, the aspects of their family life most respondents felt would change for the better were their own career prospects, their personal life and general family life.
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