Memorial Day is a time to remember military personnel who died in the performance of their duties. It isn't traditionally the time to discuss veterans, but why not bend the unspoken rules a bit to remember economic pain and ongoing problems faced by those who have honorably served.
The good news comes in jobs. Attention on hiring veterans seems to have helped. The unemployment rate for vets at the end of 2018 was at 3% while the nonveteran rate dropped to 3.5%.
Fast forward to the April 2019 jobs numbers. The unemployment rate for veterans was 2.3%, down from 3.7 percent in April 2018. There's good and bad here. The overall number is good, especially compared to the 3.6% overall rate.
Things look less rosy when it comes to gender difference. Female veterans have taken a significant hit. The unemployment rate was 2.1% for men in April, down from 3.9% the year before. But in April 2018, female veterans had an unemployment rate of 1.9%. This year it's 4.1%.
There's a disparity that runs first one way and then the other. Samples are in the millions with labor force participation rates topping 79%, far above the roughly 63% of the overall labor force. Gulf War I-era veterans and those from the Vietnam, Korean War, and World War II had gender unemployment rates that were roughly even. It was veterans from Afghanistan, Iraq, and other wars and actions from the same era where the unemployment saw such disparity. Men went from 5.2% to 1.1% year over year; women went from 3.2% to 5.4%. The numbers from those groups are significantly larger.
There's something going on with no explanation that I can see. The most recent examination by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is for 2018 but it misses the sharp difference new, only discusses relative numbers, and doesn't generally address such differentials. Explanations are typically left to macroeconomic figures.
As the George W. Bush Presidential Center notes, there is a lot that figures leave unknown.
The unemployment rate is certainly one indicator, but it alone is insufficient in addressing our warriors’ career interests, opportunities, and challenges. The number is derived from a questionnaire the Bureau of Labor Statistics sends out. However, the question is not specific in nature. Meaning a veteran could work a full-time job or it could mean they only work 10 hours a week or are a reservist and don’t have a civilian career. Finally, not counted are those who have just given up in trying to find work.
We need greater understanding in general of unemployment and under-employment, and specifically for veterans. Are they getting integrated back into society successfully enough after potentially putting themselves in danger and very possibly risking PTSD? To what degree does "unemployment" ignore those who are now incapable of working, whether due to physical or psychological reasons?
Another area that needs attention is veteran homelessness. This has been a topic of repeated releases from the Veterans Administration over the last couple of years, but there needs to be accurate data that is maintained to see changes over time. A list of quick facts about the topic mentions statistics through 2015.
The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness shows state-level estimates of individuals and families that are homeless. The last statistics showing are from the annual January homeless count from 2018. There are some states with large numbers of homeless vets, like 10,836 in California, 2,543 in Florida, 1,935 in Texas, or 1,636 in Washington State.
This should be unheard of, but it clearly isn't. There should be more attention in a practical way, as in solutions, not talk. Especially after unbroken years of war. And that might be the best way to end the problems of unemployment and homelessness among veterans: Stop spending money on wars that seem to do nothing but transfer more wealth to the manufacturers of weapons and military systems.
