WASHINGTON — Help is on the way for military families and veterans.
President Joe Biden's new executive order unveiled Friday will increase the number of federal jobs for which military spouses will receive preferential treatment in hiring.
The order also speeds up new savings accounts for military family childcare expenses and mandates a new government-wide plan for ways to help find work for spouses whose careers have been derailed by military moves and demands.
Military spouses' unemployment rate is roughly three times the national joblessness average.
About 22% of the nation's roughly 479,000 military spouses are unemployed, according to the U.S Chamber of Commerce Foundation, making them one of the highest unemployed demographics in the United States.
Hampton Roads Veterans Employment Center Director Sultan Camp says the need is great and he is pleased to see this effort.
"So, to have an initiative like this at the federal level to make our military spouses more competitive in terms of career opportunity is phenomenal," he said.
It's an issue Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine has long worked to rectify.
He newly re-introduced the Military Spouse Hiring Act, which proposes to amend the tax code to incentivize private businesses to hire military spouses.
When asked if the bill will encourage employers to do the right thing, Sen. Kaine said: "Well, you would hope."
In April, President Biden signed another executive order, Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers. That measure is designed to make childcare and long-term care more accessible and affordable for families.