Estimating the Effect of a Single-Salary System on Marriage Rates and Retention

Abstract

This report considers one of the potential effects of a DOD move to a single-salary system (SSS): changes in servicemember retention driven by changes in marriage behavior. It analyzes the effects that a move to an SSS is likely to have on the percentage of servicemembers who are married and studies the changes in retention rates and force size that may be induced by any changes in marriage behavior. Our approach includes a review of the literature on the relationships between compensation, marital status, and retention; computation of pay changes underdifferent SSS implementation scenarios; estimation of the effect of marital status on retention using personnel data; and development of a model that can forecast marriage rates and force size over time. Overall, we find that these effects are likely to be small, so there is little need for policy-makers to be concerned about these effects when considering a change to an SSS.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2020
Accession Number
AD1145628

Entities

People

  • Gerald E. Cox
  • Jacklyn Kambic
  • Jared M. Huff
  • Lauren Malone
  • Rachel Townsley
  • Thomas M. Geraghty

Organizations

  • Center for Naval Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Business Administration
  • Data Analysis
  • Department Of Defense
  • Employment
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Governments
  • Health Care
  • Management Personnel
  • Manpower
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Personnel
  • National Governments
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Sociology
  • Warrant Officers

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Military Mobilization and Reserve Forces Studies.
  • Naval Personnel Management