RAF Families Survey September 2006
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, while the least level of satisfaction was attributed to its maintenance. 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 under half having two children living at home at the time of the surveys. Of reported problems with finding school places, most related to the 11-15 year old age groups. In looking for schools, most respondents tended to use the Internet and their Local Education Authority. The Service Family Association was least used and was found to be the least useful. 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. Many believed that the RAF needs to make better use of their skills and employ more spouses into civilian posts. However, nearly half of respondents felt that they had experienced discrimination when applying for 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 the greatest proportion of people wanted to see on the RAF Community Website. The allowances that respondents were most satisfied with were the boarding school allowance and furniture removal expenses.
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The issue of most concern in the area of health care was 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 them while their partners were away, and with the lack of support given to them by the RAF. Many respondents also felt that there was a strong tendency for other spouses to adopt the rank of their serving spouse and they often felt that spouses were treated according to the rank of their partner.
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Although a significant proportion of people would feel happy if their partner was to leave the RAF, the majority said they would feel 'no different'. The aspects of family life that most felt would change for the better if their partner were to leave included their own career prospects, their personal life and general family life. However, many felt their family income would be worse.
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The majority of respondents rated all topics covered in the survey as being important or very important. Those of highest importance were children's education, financial aspects and health care support. A huge majority of the respondents rated the RAFCOM website's information on Pay and Pensions, as well as information on Allowances, as 'very/quite useful' on Rafcom.
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