Every Memorial Day, we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country. But it should also inspire us to ensure that those currently serving, and their families, aren’t needlessly suffering. Right now, when active service members are transferred to a new base, we don’t just ask their families to move too — we often force their spouses to sacrifice working.
We ask a lot of our active-duty service members. Of course, we ask them to be willing to lay down their lives. But there are a lot of other smaller sacrifices they must endure during their service, such as stable living conditions. Every time a service member is given a new assignment, they are forced to move somewhere new.
Their families are also forced to uproot their lives. Moving is expensive and a hassle. You have to leave your friends and family and start all over again. And when military spouses work in a licensed profession, moving often means they are legally prevented from working.
When someone works in a licensed profession, which can range from physicians to nurses to cosmetologists, after moving to a new state, they have to reapply for licensure. The process is not as simple as transferring a driver’s license. It takes a lot of time and money to do. Any time there are slight differences in education or training requirements between states, licensed professionals have to redo education or training. Starting from scratch adds time and money, which can be prohibitive to finding work after a move.
Continue reading at The Washington Examiner.
Edward Timmons, Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation at St. Francis University, writes frequently on the history and rise of occupational licensing and it’s relation to economic mobility.
Conor Norris is the assistant director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University. Follow his work @ConorNorrisKRCC.
Economics of Flourishing
Every Memorial Day, we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country. But it should also inspire us to ensure that those currently serving, and their families, aren’t needlessly suffering. Right now, when active service members are transferred to a new base, we don’t just ask their families to move too — we often force their spouses to sacrifice working.
We ask a lot of our active-duty service members. Of course, we ask them to be willing to lay down their lives. But there are a lot of other smaller sacrifices they must endure during their service, such as stable living conditions. Every time a service member is given a new assignment, they are forced to move somewhere new.
Their families are also forced to uproot their lives. Moving is expensive and a hassle. You have to leave your friends and family and start all over again. And when military spouses work in a licensed profession, moving often means they are legally prevented from working.
When someone works in a licensed profession, which can range from physicians to nurses to cosmetologists, after moving to a new state, they have to reapply for licensure. The process is not as simple as transferring a driver’s license. It takes a lot of time and money to do. Any time there are slight differences in education or training requirements between states, licensed professionals have to redo education or training. Starting from scratch adds time and money, which can be prohibitive to finding work after a move.
Continue reading at The Washington Examiner.
Edward Timmons
Edward Timmons, Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation at St. Francis University, writes frequently on the history and rise of occupational licensing and it’s relation to economic mobility.
Conor Norris
Conor Norris is the assistant director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University. Follow his work @ConorNorrisKRCC.
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