Military service affects more than the person wearing the uniform. Spouses, adult children, and other family members often manage deployments, frequent moves, medical appointments, and caregiving responsibilities, sometimes while holding civilian jobs without access to paid leave.
Military paid family and medical leave can give civilian employees time away from work to address certain needs arising from a loved one’s military service or to care for a service member or veteran with a serious health condition. For military families, that time can be critical.
Want to learn more about the different types of paid leave and when they may apply? Explore our Types of Paid Family and Medical Leave resource.
Corinthia “Cori” Nash knows firsthand how the demands of military service can affect an entire family. Her husband, retired Navy Senior Chief Daniel Nash, served in the U.S. Navy for 26 years. During his career, the family moved repeatedly, living in Hawaii, Texas, Maryland, Japan, and eventually San Antonio.
Each move meant finding a home, settling the children into a new community, rebuilding a support system, and, often, leaving Cori’s job behind.
“I had to quit,” she recalled. “I didn’t have any paid time to move into my house, to find a house, to do any of that.”
And relocating a military family was rarely as simple as packing boxes.
“You’re dragging your kids all looking for houses,” she said. “You don’t have family around. You don’t have any support. It’s not easy.”
Paid leave would not have eliminated those challenges, but it could have given Cori time to help her family adjust without immediately sacrificing her paycheck or her job.
Military families deserve time to care. Become an advocate for paid leave.
Years later, her need for leave looks very different.
Daniel lives with chronic injuries and pain related to the physical demands of his years in the Navy. Cori said people sometimes overlook the lasting health effects that can come from military service when there is no single catastrophic injury.
“People think of military injuries as somebody being shot or injured by a bomb,” she said. “His line of duty was keeping ships running. It was the daily wear and tear on his body.”
Last year, Daniel suffered a severe seizure that fractured three vertebrae. He spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and later needed rehabilitation, additional medical care, and frequent appointments through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Cori increasingly took on the role of caregiver while continuing to manage her own career and their household.
“There are days when he wakes up and literally can’t move,” she said. “I have to take him to the ER, pick up the kids, make dinner, and keep the household running.”
Today, access to intermittent leave allows Cori to accompany her husband to medical appointments and respond when his health suddenly worsens without exhausting her vacation time or risking her job.
That support can matter across generations. A civilian spouse may need time to respond to the demands of a deployment or provide care during a health crisis. An adult child may need leave to take a veteran parent to appointments or care for them when a serious condition makes it difficult to function independently.
For Cori, the circumstances have changed over the years, but the need for time to care for family has remained.
“My sailor may not have been shot in the line of duty,” she said. “But his body is shot from years of service. And when he has a bad day, the whole family feels it.”
Military families share in the sacrifices of service. Paid family and medical leave can help ensure that the civilian family members supporting service members and veterans do not also have to sacrifice their jobs or financial security when their families need them most.
