From Military.com:
“Inflation woes caused major financial issues for wounded
vets in 2022”
Nearly two-thirds of young disabled veterans faced
significant financial problems in the past year despite improving employment
prospects for the group, according to a new report released by the Wounded
Warrior Project on Wednesday. Of the roughly 19,000 veterans surveyed by the
group, more than 12,000 (64%) said they “couldn’t make ends meet at some point
in the past 12 months.” More than 80% said that rising inflation costs created
financial hardship for their families. “It’s not a surprise to us,” said Jen
Silva, chief program officer for WWP. “Operationally, we had already seen big
jumps in the emergency financial assistance requests to us from warriors and
family members. So, the data just confirms what we’re already seeing.” Officials
say the new survey from Wounded Warrior Project shows a need for more
transition programs focused on women.
Group officials said they spent about five times more in
financial aid to members in 2022 than they did in 2021, during the height of
the coronavirus pandemic in America. That happened even though the unemployment
rate for the group fell from a high of 13.4% in 2021 to just under 7% in 2022
(still almost three times higher than the rate for all American veterans, and
twice that of the general population). About 27% of individuals surveyed said
they had steady employment but still “didn’t earn enough.”
Because the annual survey is restricted only to WWP members,
it is not necessarily reflective of the entire Iraq and Afghanistan War
population or all injured veterans. However, officials said the findings do
reflect trends within the group’s 165,000 members, who are among the most
active users of Veterans Affairs benefits and services. WWP leaders said they
use the findings to guide programming and priorities for future years. In the
case of financial aid, the group is already bracing for continued need this
year. “We’re expecting the requests to be about the same,” Silva said. “It
doesn’t seem to be getting any better yet.” Mental health issues (48%) and
struggles with transitioning military skills to civilian jobs (37%) were the
top self-reported problems with finding better employment, according to the
survey. Despite those challenges, the increased financial strain does not
appear to be causing a surge in mental health issues, researchers noted. About
240,000 veterans nationwide were looking for work last month but unable to find
steady employment.
About 75% of individuals surveyed reported dealing with
post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. More than one in four
had suicidal thoughts in the past year. Those figures were all on par with
previous years. But WWP members were more likely than their peers to seek help
for those issues, with 66% saying that they saw a mental health professional at
least once in the past year. About 40% reported four or more sessions in the
past 12 months. The full survey is available on the WWP web site.
^ This may only poll those within Wounded Warrior Project and
not all Veterans, but even that sub-section shows a major issue within the
Veteran Community that we all need to address and fix. No one who risked
everything, including their lives, for us should have to struggle in any way. ^
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