Report: the Past, Present, and Future of Women Veterans
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Women Veterans Report The Past, Present and Future of Women Veterans Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics February 2017 America’s Women Veterans: Military Service History and VA Benefit Utilization Statistics Prepared by: Office of Data Governance and Analytics The Office of Data Governance and Analytics serves as the authoritative clearinghouse for VA to collect, validate, analyze, and disseminate key statistics on Veteran population and VA programs to support plan- ning, analysis, and decision-making activities. For more information on reports, surveys, or statistics- re garding the Veteran population, check our website at http://www.va.gov/vetdata/. For general inquiries, please e-mail us at [email protected]. Contributors: Maribel Aponte Florinda Balfour Tom Garin Dorothy Glasgow Tamara Lee Eddie Thomas Kayla Williams For Women Veterans everywhere Recommended citation for this report: Women Veterans Report: The Past, Present, and Future of Women Veterans. National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC. February 2017 National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics iii Contents List of Figures.............................................................................................................................................................vi Executive Summary................................................................................................................................................vii Women in Military History.....................................................................................................................................1 Intoduction.................................................................................................................................................................1 The History of Women as Veterans.....................................................................................................................6 Today’s Women Veteran.......................................................................................................................................10 Demographic Indicators........................................................................................................................11 Period of Military Service........................................................................................................12 Age..................................................................................................................................................12 Race and Hispanic Origin........................................................................................................14 Marriage and Divorce ...............................................................................................................15 Socioeconomic Indicators.....................................................................................................................17 Educational Attainment...........................................................................................................17 Occupation...................................................................................................................................18 Poverty...........................................................................................................................................19 Household Income....................................................................................................................21 Health Insurance Coverage....................................................................................................22 Utilization of the Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits and Services............................................................................................................................................24 Most Prevalent Service-Connected Disabilities.............................................................28 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder............................................................................. 29 Major Depressive Disorder......................................................................................29 Migraine.........................................................................................................................29 Lower Back Pain (Lumbosacral or cervical strain)...........................................29 National Center for Vetereans Analysis and Statistics iv Uterus and Ovaries, Removal of, Complete........................................................30 Age Distribution for Women Veterans Receiving Compensation...........................................30 Individual Unemployability Compensation....................................................................................31 Degree of Disability..................................................................................................................................32 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employ¬ment Program..............................................................33 Pension Program.......................................................................................................................................33 Education Benefits....................................................................................................................................33 Current Initiatives for Women Veterans..........................................................................................................35 Institutional Advocates...........................................................................................................................35 Homelessness ...........................................................................................................................................35 Outreach and Education........................................................................................................................36 Surveys.........................................................................................................................................................37 Concluding Remarks...............................................................................................................................37 Appendix A................................................................................................................................................................39 Appendix B................................................................................................................................................................48 Appendix C................................................................................................................................................................53 Appendix D...............................................................................................................................................................54 Appendix E................................................................................................................................................................55 References.................................................................................................................................................................58 National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics v List of Figures Figure 1. Number of Women Served and Casualty Counts, by Wartime Period Figure 1a. Female Active-Duty Military Personnel: 1945 to 2015 Figure 2. Women Veterans as a Percent of the Veteran Population: 2000 - 2040 American Community Survey Figure 3. Period of Military Service of Women Veterans: 2015 Figure 4. Age Distribution of Women, by Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 5. Race and Ethnicity of Women by Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 6. Distribution of Women, by Minority and Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 7. Percentage of Women Who Were Currently Married, by Age and Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 8. Percentage of Women Who Were Currently Divorced, by Age and Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 9. Distribution of Women’s Educational Attainment by Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 10. Age Distribution of Women with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher, by Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 11. Work Category of Employed Women by Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 12. Occupation of Women by Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 13. Poverty Rates of Women, by Age and Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 14. Median Household Income of Women, by Age and Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 15. Uninsured Rates of Women Population, by Age and Veteran Status: 2015 Figure 16. Health Insurance Coverage of Insured Women, by Veteran Status: 2015 Utilization of the Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits and Services Figure 17. Benefits Utilization of Women Veterans: 2005-2015 Figure 18. Benefits Utilization by Program and Gender Status: 2015 Figure 19. Number of Women Veterans Enrolled in the VHA Health Care System: 2005 to 2015 Figure 20. Ten Most Prevalent Primary Service-Connected Disabilities for Women Veterans: 2015 Figure 21, Age Distribution of Women Veterans with a Hysterectomy as Their Primary Condition: 2015 Figure 22. Age Distribution for Women Veterans Receiving Compensation Figure 23. Age Distribution of Women Veterans Who Received Individual Unemployment Compensation in 2015 Figure 24. Average Number of Service-Connected Disabilities, by Combined Degree of Disability: 2015 Figure 25. Age Distribution of Education Benefits Used by Women Veterans: 2015 v National Center for Veterans