Veterans And Poverty Essay

In America people would like to assume that not only the current soldiers defending our country but also the future soldiers would have enough resources to provide for themselves and their families, but in all reality this isn’t true. According to the State of the Union in 2022 there were 1.3 million active duty soldiers in the United States Military. Within that a large percentage either came from a background of poverty or are headed in a similar direction.

Lots of people don’t understand that living in poverty as a child makes people more likely to join the military as adults. While living in poverty people typically look for any way out that they can find. The military is an escape for people from dysfunctional family settings and in

Poverty makes it difficult for men and women coming back from serving in the military to readapt to normal life, especially coming home to a family who still lives in severe financial hardship. According to Kleykamp, veterans still tend to have lower employment odds than typical civilians. In 2012, after returning from Afghanistan veterans made up 41% of the population (Elbogen). This goes to show that even after returning from a war and being celebrated for doing so, the hardship isn’t over. Whether it's homelessness or PTSD or depression, there are always going to be more and more hardships that veterans have to face once they get back from active

It is hard to understand what support for a family might mean when there has been no example in your life with that support. Also coming back to a family after serving can be difficult in itself, but coming back and being expected to get a job and be a main provider for that family can take a huge toll on you mentally. That's where a lot of MD comes into place after serving. The fact that it is difficult to feel good or smart enough to support a family. On top of all that not having the mental care that is needed can make it even more strenuous. According to Elboglen among others, “Veterans with PTSD, traumatic brain injury, or major depressive disorder were less likely to have money to cover basic needs and more likely to mismanage money. Conversely, Veterans with better finances were less likely to abuse substances or report criminal justice involvement.” This goes to show that coming from a background where managing money isn’t necessarily taught it can be difficult to learn that later in life and within that the likelihood of drinking and substance abuse also goes up. Since certain mental conditions often contribute to falling into addiction, it can lead to the feeling that there is no other way to make that mental struggle go