The Social Health of Post-9/11 Veterans

Despite cautioning from Psychology Today that military veterans are less warm and friendly than their civilian counterparts — experiencing a greater difficulty in getting along with friends and coworkers due to the “subtle lingering effects” of their military experience — post-9/11 veterans happily aren’t enduring the perceived effects of such stereotypical behavior. It’s civilians, rather, who might be on the verge of some begrudging feelings, going by the just-released “Profile of Post-9/11 Veterans: 2012” and “Profile of Veterans: 2013” prepared by the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics (NCVAS). Veterans in the post-9/11 cohort, the NCVAS studies reveal, turn out to be younger, more likely to be insured, less likely to live in poverty, and earn higher personal incomes than non-veterans.

Comprising a current population of 2.6 million individuals that’s expected to increase 45% between 2012 and 2017, the post-9/11 veterans are the youngest cohort being served by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). About 80% are under age 44; the median age of male post-9/11 veterans in 2012 was 32 compared to 41 on the non-veteran side, while the median age of female post-9/11 veterans was 31 compared to 46. (As for the age of all other veterans outside of this grouping, however, in 2012 upwards of 80% were over the age of 55. According to the 2013 American Community Survey data, the median age of all male veterans was 64, while male non-veterans’ median age was 41.)

Given the age range of post-9/11 veterans, it’s fairly unsurprising that among men, 54.6% are married while 48.5% of their female counterparts are. These numbers pale a little in sight of the 65.8% of all male veterans who are married or the 49.1% of all female veterans, but they still overshadow the 48.7% of married male non-veterans. But while male veterans are more likely to be married and less likely to have never married compared with non-veteran men, female veterans are more likely to be divorced than non-veteran women or male veterans are: Female veterans are almost half as likely as their civilian sisters to be divorced. The NCVAS studies don’t elaborate or attempt to explain the larger number of veteran divorcées, but perhaps it has something more to do with the high dual-military marriage rates among military women (48% of all married military women, compared to 7% of married military males) than their gender specifically.

Nonetheless, a higher percentage of female veterans overall, and post-9/11 female veterans in particular, hold a degree from or are enrolled in college than their male counterparts. Neither female nor male post-9/11 veterans, however, are more likely than civilians to live at the poverty level, with males earning about $3,500 and females about $5,000 more than similar non-veterans, with the median personal income of the latter civilian looking something like $15,797 compared to the $38,901 that her female veteran counterpart brings home. More post-9/11 female veterans, like their male counterparts were in management or professional occupations compared to similar non-veterans, and were significantly more likely to work for local, state, or federal government. And when it comes to insurance, only 12% of male veterans compared to 28.4% of non-veterans had no coverage, 21.2% had public and private coverage, and 55% had private coverage. While 20.8% of non-veteran females do not have coverage, 60.5% of female post-9/11 veterans have private health insurance and 17.5% have public and private coverage.

Data sets, however sophisticated, of course can’t give us the exhaustive picture of the well-being of large groups of people, but they can give us valuable indications of their strengths and weaknesses, and overall social health. As the NCVAS profiles of post-9/11 veterans reveal, our generation’s military men and women are not only reentering civil society once their service has been completed. They are succeeding at it.