Sixty-six per cent of Army spouses know about the Armed Forces Covenant, according to the latest FamCAS.
The annual tri-Service families continuous attitude survey, published last week, asked Army, Royal Navy and RAF families about their lives as part of the military community.
It had some new questions for 2026, including whether they were aware of the Covenant or had used it to help them in their daily life. The other two branches had significantly more awareness – 79 per cent for RN/RM and 80 per cent for RAF spouses.
And only 15 per cent of Army spouses had made use of it, compared to 22 per cent for RAF and 19 per cent for RN/RM.
AFF is currently working with the Naval and RAF Families Federations on a new programme. It’s aimed at raising awareness of the Covenant and how it can benefit the serving community and those who support them.
The survey also asked for the first time about spouses who looked after or supported someone elderly, or who had a long-term physical or mental health condition. Eighteen per cent of Army spouses responded that they did. The percentage was lower for RN/RM and RAF spouses (17 per cent and 12 per cent).
For context, the 2021 Census estimates 10 per cent of people, aged 18 to 59, in England or Wales, provide unpaid care to someone.
Positives and negatives
FamCAS 2026 was distributed to 27,710 regular Service personnel who were married or in a civil partnership, who were invited to pass it to their spouse. It resulted in a response rate of 15 per cent and 4,245 responses were used.
Army families were more likely to live in SFA than the other services. This may have contributed to Army spouses feeling more positive about Service-provided facilities (40 per cent), followed by RAF (29 per cent) and RN/RM (24 per cent).
Army families (69 per cent) were also the most likely to have moved at least once in the past five years for Service reasons. It might go some way to explain why they felt the most negative about the number of house moves.
It could also contribute to less stability amongst Army families who were less likely to be employed. A total of 36 per cent of Army spouses felt negative about household income compared to 25 per cent of RN/RM and 28 per cent of RAF spouses.
Sources of support
Almost three quarters of Army families (73 per cent) had heard of AFF. And the number of military families who knew about Forces Families Jobs rose to 43 per cent.
Just over half the Army spouses surveyed were satisfied with their quality of life as a Service family. And this year fewer of them, 36 per cent, were unhappy with the response to repair and maintenance requests in their SFA. It’s the lowest reported figure since the question was introduced in 2015.
Another chance to have your say
If you didn’t get the chance to fill in FAMCAS 2026, why not take part in our pay questionnaire?
AFF, NFF and RAFFF are gathering evidence we can take to organisations like the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB) and the MOD about the financial issues faced by serving personnel and their families.
PUBLISHED ON 24 JULY 2026