So why do veterans do so poorly economically?

So why do veterans do so poorly economically?

Outside the military?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-03-19-job...

Also the fact that a large segment of the homeless population are also veterans. So the first question, does the correlation imply causation? Which way does it go then? Are people with poor job prospects more likely to join the military, or does the military on average make someone less employable?

If it is the former, then what makes them less employable? You can't be a moron, physically unfit or a felon and join the military. If it is the later, then what is it about military experience that makes one less employable, especially when you consider the benefits given to anyone with an honorable discharge.

Comments

  • The reasons are as diverse as the individuals. Military experience does not always transfer into employable civilian skills. Many veterans are discharged with varying levels of physical and or psychological disabilities, which creates another can of worms so to speak. All gave some, some gave all, and then some hid during combat times.

    This quandary is one that very few are aware of and even fewer know the costs associated with it. Disability lasts a lifetime for most veterans, and the costs associated with those disabilities grow each and every year. The VA is still dealing with disabled veterans from Korea, and I know there are still a few from WW ll as well.

  • As any Far Left Newspaper...

    The USA Today article is pure BS...

    Sure a lot of Non Veterans answering this question...

    Just what are all those Great Benefits that an Honorably

    Discharged Veteran receives without having to jump

    through hoops for...There are "O"...

    The GI Bill is for College and not Trade Schools...

    or any other usefull training...

    No one can live on what the GI Bill gives them today...

    DOD and the Dept of VA really do not help a

    Veteran at all.

    Most Veterans do not even know that they

    are entitled to unemployment insurance when

    Discharged...

    Most with Purple Hearts/Wounds etc are just

    Discharged some even have "Has No Disabilities"

    typed on their DD 214's.

    Don't say BS...I work with the results every day...

    Most don't even know that they are entitled to

    5 years of FREE Medical Care at any Dept of VA

    Medical Facility for anything from date of Discharge...

    99% have no idea of what to do to obtain

    their Hard Earned Benefits...or Compensation

    for their Wounds/Injuries...

    They also don't know if they are given any

    serverence pay that they have to pay all of that

    to the Dept of VA before the receive a dime in

    Compensation or help.

    DOD and the VA sure do not go out of

    their way to assist them...

    As for the Homeless, there maybe a few...

    but as the man said ahead of me...

    If I went into any shelter on any given day

    and said I was looking for Veterans...

    98% would say they were Veterans...

    I know I used to do that...

    Also if you believe what any one from the VA

    tells Congress...I have some ocean front property

    in Colorado you might be interested in...

    You know how you can tell if a VA employee and

    a Polotician is lying...Their Lips move...

  • I won't try and give any more answers to this question as it has already been aswered well by Marine5. But I will give all of you a a bit of advice. Google these and they will open your eyes. "On Killing" by Dave Grossman and his other writtings called "On Combat". Then google "Blood Borders" I have met many veterans. Some indeed homeless but for the most part they are working and surviving like everyone else. Some get rich and some get poor. But the point is this the US Govement USES bodies for forien policy and the V.A. is in sad condition and unprepared to handle the troops coming back with mental problems. They do their best. but fall short in some areas. When I first started going to the VA in 72 it was way different. Now the VA police cary guns and wear bullet proof vest and are used to intimedate patients whom are getting sub standard care and get angery & hurt by this. Go tho VAwatchdog.org for more or google VA and malpractice suits etc. Good luck gang. To all the other vets, Thanks for serving.

  • Well, it is no secret that disabled veterans are the most discriminated minority in the country and they all suspect they will go crazy and kill people. Even though we made it possible to own their Viper and sit at their desk and despite that I have never heard of a vet going on murder rampage.

    I know a friend of mine with a MBA and he was program manager in the Army as a buck Sargent and manged 115 workers with 70 million dollar budget. He applied to allot of companies after he got out and in some cases people he knew inside said "their HR said we don't a military cray guy" or in some cases Army career counselors trying to get back in tracked his resumes online and made calls.

    I sometimes feel like I am treated as a second class citizen when people find out and in interviews they first assume it was car accident but when they get me VA letter they look at me like a criminal.

  • Hello. The military ( Before you go in ) tells you one can gain skills in the military so a person goes in and learns how to be a sniper and kill people. The military learns how to march from one place to another. So while you do 4 years or more in the military the civilian goes to college and learns a real skill. The civilian gets a college degree and the military person gets an honorable discharge. Who is more employable? Sure! The civilian. What does the Military man have to offer? Well, the Military man can march and can shoot a gun and kill people. The civilian can help advance a company with his degree.

  • Couple of wild-assed guesses:

    The veterans don't have the same seniority in their newer civilian jobs as their peers who never served so they get laid off first.

    The veterans have a stronger work ethic so they keep looking for work after others give up. This means they're statistically tracked as unemployed longer, skewing their rates higher.

    As for "homeless veterans", they are people who self-identify to whomever is surveying them as veterans. That doesn't necessarily mean that they actually ARE veterans, or that they served honorably, or that their current status has any relationship whatsoever to any military service they may have

  • Wow! Where do YOU live? Under a ROCK? I know a LOT of veterans (first, second termers and retirees) and MOST are making a darned good living. Come to S.E. Virginia and take a look around. The 'Tidewater/Hampton Roads' area has a VERY large veterans/retirees population and we're doing a lot better than many of our civilian non-vet neighbors are.

    "HOMELESS VETERANS". ANYONE can put on a fatigue jacket with some hokey patches and say he's a vet. I ran into one in D.C. a couple of years ago. He talked a good talk unitl I asked what U.S. Marine unit he was with and when and where he was. That unit was NEVER in Viet Nam and I told him so. He was FAKE, as too many are.

    You're just a typical know nothing civilian talking outta his hind parts.

    USA TODAY...a liberal, inbred rag. And you believe their cow plop? You ARE gullible!

    (USN, retired 1965 -85/in-country Viet Nam combat vet)

  • i circulate to the interior of reach VA wellness center,that's not a great one. when I do this's straight forward to ascertain a pair of hundred fellow vets that look content with the efforts being made. they have a nursing homestead that's as much as this element. incredibly i've got been taken greater suitable care of their than civilian hospitals. like various government operation although, Social safety, IRS you have concerns that aren't getting carried out top, then dare I point out the few who you cant make satisfied no depend what. the greater severe difficulty in my humble opinion is the amputees and disabled, what are you able to do for them that would compensate them for the sacrifice and return them to as primary a existence-form as available. it is a few thing that communities and fellow former and lively service contributors could evaluate no longer based completely on the government to shield and make efforts to assist/help those coming homestead

  • Discrimination.

    Especially in academia and from people that were born in privileged families that never had anyone in their family serve in the military or at the most a relative that was drafted back in World War 2.

    I served several years in the military after high school so I went to college later in life and I had a lot of younger students fresh out of high school that never served or will serve look down their noses at me because they thought I was slower than them because I was ten years older than them and just started college. I got the same vibe from a lot of the professors.

  • There are quite a few factors why veterans do so poorly. First, no one in private businesses really want to hire veterans although they claim they want to hire them. The reason is they fear most veterans have been exposed to lots of violence and killing and know the more you are around it the easier it becomes to accept such barabaric actions!

    Second, it is no secret veterans have PTSD (Post Tramatic Stress Disorder) and now are admiiting up to 80% of them exposed to combat have had serious brain concussions, possibly brain damage!

    Veterans also have more health problems as they get older as they have been exposed to elements such as disease that average non-veterans are never exposed to by never leaving the USA or being put in a combat zone! Employers must deal with veterans coming and going on tours of duty when they hire veterans and it becomes a pain getting replacements, then having to accept them back again. It is easier just to hire non-veterans and then there is nothing to deal with as they do not get sent anywhere, anytime! Veterans sent into "harms way" must re-adjust to their home life and job again after coming home and sometimes that is not an easy transition and companies frown on having to deal with that situation. Companies are afraid a veteran may have a bad day and make it other people's and fellow workers last day by going off the deep end at the workplace with some kind of weaponry and having things end in a murder-suicide! Many veterans come from poor families and do not have the educational backgrounds that pay the high-dollar in the workforce! Many veterans get off-track when returning and end up being homeless and on the streets unable to cope with reality of being out of the military and adapting to civilian life once again! Some veterans never get a handle on their life and lose their families in the process causing major depression and its all down hill from there on out! One out of four homeless people in America are U.S. Veterans! It's a National Shame! This is a few of the reasons I believe veterans do so poor economically, compared to civilians who attend college and never go through the same set of circumstances! I believe those who attend college do better economically throughout life and are more acceptable to employers, than veterans with major problems hanging over their heads from being in a war or combat zone time and time again!

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