Rachel Wallen Oglesby ,
September 30, 2024
Removing Barriers to Work for New Jersey’s Military Spouses
OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING IS A BARRIER TO WORK FOR MILITARY SPOUSES
- More than 2,700 occupations are regulated by at least one state.
- 1 in 4 American Workers now work in an occupation that requires a license - up from 1 in 20 in the 1950s.
Every state requires people looking to work in certain fields to receive government approval to do so, in the form of an occupational license. States differ on which occupations they license and what they require from workers to earn a license, but most require hundreds of hours of training and extensive education, exams, and fees.
The current system is excessively burdensome, particularly for military spouses already licensed in one state but who must re-apply for a license from a new state every time their spouse is relocated. While New Jersey has taken some steps to ease this burden, a new, America First approach allows military spouses to get to work right away in their new states, without waiting on a licensing board’s approval.
- New Jersey is home to roughly 3,800 active-duty military spouses
- Military personnel and their families move every 2.5 years, on average
- Some military spouses have waited 10+ months to get a licensing credential in a new state
- Military spouses have a 22% unemployment rate and a 26% wage gap compared to their civilian counterparts
UNDER CURRENT LAW, NEW JERSEY LICENSING BOARDS CAN:
- Take weeks or even months to approve or deny a military spouse’s out-of-state license.
- Require a military spouse to take another exam in order to work in New Jersey, even if they are licensed in good standing in another state
- Determine that a military spouse’s out-of-state license is not good enough for New Jersey and deny them the ability to work in the state.