Story at a glance
- Veterans Day, once called Armistice Day, is an annual holiday that honors all American war veterans.
- Veterans face unique challenges when reentering the workforce, often due to emotional or physical trauma.
- A new study on veteran compensation sheds light on which states veterans are paid the most, and the least, in.
Originally called Armistice Day, the roots of the holiday now called Veterans Day commemorated the end of World War I, which officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. However, the fighting had actually come to an end seven months prior when the Allies and Germany put into effect an armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
Several years later in 1926 Congress officially recognized November 11, 1918 as the end of the war, officiating the date as a holiday set aside to honor veterans of the war. After World War II and the Korean War, Congress amended that commemoration to change the word “armistice” to “veterans” — officially observing November 11 each year as a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
A tough situation for today’s vets
Last year in 2019, roughly 18.8 million Americans were veterans, accounting for 8 percent of the U.S. civilian population. That portion of the American population was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic this year just as other segments were, such as communities of color and women. A disproportionate percentage of veterans work in industries hit hardest by the financial impact of the coronavirus at a high 15 percent, and more than one million veterans filed for unemployment this April, sending veteran jobless rates shooting up to 11.7 percent.
Luckily that rate has fallen to 5.5 percent as of this October, though the number is still elevated from the typical 3 percent. Veterans are also more likely to have a disability they incurred during active duty, and many of them face more challenges transitioning from their military skills into a civilian job, often because of emotional or physical trauma. In fact, five million veterans had at least one disability and another 1.2 million American veterans were living in poverty by the end of 2018.
While 62 percent of nonservice members in the U.S. were working in 2019 and 34 percent were not currently in the labor force, veteran employment numbers were significantly different. Compared to 49 percent of veterans in 2019 who were currently working, 48 percent were not in the labor force, and close to 3 percent were unemployed.
A new study on veteran unemployment throughout the U.S. by Hill & Ponton has found that it is actually highest in Alaska at 4.5 percent, followed by Oregon at 3.9 percent, Washington, D.C. at 3.9 percent, Michigan at 3.7 percent and Illinois at 3.6 percent. In 2019, the unemployment rate for veterans was lower than the civilian unemployment rate in every state except North Dakota, and for service members leaving their existing orders or active duty altogether, the number of government programs available to help match them with employment opportunities are so readily available that they can sometimes be overwhelming for veterans entering the workforce.
Generally, “states with smaller populations rank as better places for veterans to live and work,” SmartAsset spokesperson Kara Gibson told CNBC Make It. “These states tend to have more VA health facilities and VA benefits administration facilities per 100,000 veterans, along with higher percentages of businesses that are veteran-owned. Plus, eight of the top 10 states do not tax military pensions.”
Another problem plaguing veterans is the gender pay gap that continues to affect virtually all female identifying workers in the country, and those issues were only broadened by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, employed men with no record of service earned over $18,000 more than women without a record of service. Among veterans, men earned nearly $16,000 more than women.
For female veterans, the highest paying states in 2019 included Alaska, Maryland, Massachusetts, Georgia, and Virginia. In contrast, the gap between female and male veteran incomes was highest in Arizona (58 percent), Michigan (53 percent), Louisiana (50 percent), Illinois (50 percent), and Alabama (49 percent).
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