Veterans Who Served After 9/11 More Likely to Benefit Financially From Service
October 10, 2019
Findings from a study conducted by Pew Research Center showed that combat veterans who served in the military after the September 11th terrorist attacks reported benefiting financially from their service more than those who served before 9/11.
Sixty-eight percent of the post-9/11 veterans reported that being deployed in the military had a positive impact on their finances as compared with only 30 percent of other veterans.
This could be because military service helped them secure a job upon their return from deployment. Only one in four of all veterans reported having a job soon (within six months) after discharge, while over half of post-9/11 veterans did. Another 21 percent of them had secured employment within a year of discharge.
The differences between the two groups extend beyond finances though, and they are not all positive. More post-9/11 veterans had trouble readjusting to civilian life and were more likely to have had traumatic experiences during their time in the military, which potentially resulted in PTSD. When veterans suffer from PTSD and the effects of trauma, they are significantly more likely to be unable to meet financial responsibilities. Sixty percent of veterans who experienced PTSD had money problems as compared to only 30 percent of those who did not.
Around 75 percent of post-9/11 service members who had been deployed experienced combat or emotional trauma during their time in the military. This is almost 20 percent more than others who served before the terrorist attacks.
As this research suggests, what it means to serve in America’s military after 9/11 has changed, along with the men and women who have served.