Combat Veterans More Likely to be Unemployed, Earn Less, Study Finds

Combat veterans from the military draft period — those who fought in America‘s wars from World War II to Vietnam — are less likely to be employed or to have been employed. If employed, they tended to earn less than either noncombat veterans or nonveterans of the same age.  

Those are some of the preliminary findings of a study conducted by Alair MacLean, assistant professor of sociology at Washington State University Vancouver, and funded by the National Institute on Aging. 

“Experiencing combat has that long-term effect, 10 to 30 years after their service was completed,” MacLean said. Comparisons were made among veterans and their peers on a year-by-year basis from 1968-1994. 

“Part of the reason these combat veterans have (or had) lower earnings and higher unemployment rates is that they have higher rates of disability, but more study is needed,” she said.  

MacLean is also trying to answer the question: Who ended up in combat? 

“During the time of the military draft, from World War II until 1974, service was more egalitarian than it is today. Those who served did not tend to come from nonwhite or poor families.

“However, having a college degree was protective, because those with a degree were less likely to go into combat,” she said. 

MacLean can be reached at 360-546-9177 or maclean@vancouver.wsu.edu.