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Comments, tips, and recommends welcome from our Civilian Kossacks as well!
It seemed appropriate to visit the concern of Veteran Unemployment on Labor Day. Since I knew very little about the subject, I figured I should start with the numbers:
The unemployment rate for veterans who served in the military at any time since September 2001--a group referred to as Gulf War-era II veterans--was 11.5 percent in 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
11.5% is not a pretty number. But it gets worse:
-- Young male veterans (those ages 18 to 24) who served during Gulf War era II had an unemployment rate of 21.9 percent in 2010, not statistically different from the jobless rate of young male nonveterans (19.7 percent).
That number bears repeating - 21.9% for young men between the ages of 18 and 24. We are setting up an entire generation for life long problems. These are the young men who should be getting a firm foundation in their chosen careers, who should be thinking about settling down and starting families, who should be contributing to the overall economic well-being of our nation. And, as the numbers point out, not only veterans of this age are in trouble. All of our American young adults are struggling.
And the bad news just keeps coming:
The 11.2% jobless rate for veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are 18 and older rose 4 percentage points in the past year. That's significantly higher than the corresponding 8.8% rate for non-veterans in the same age group, says Labor Department economist Jim Walker.
The numbers also show that those veterans with a higher education are more likely to be employed. It used to be that a couple of years in the military opened up avenues to getting a college degree. Many soldiers would take night and weekend classes at their local post or base. But in today's ops tempo, going to school is next to impossible. That has to wait until after service in the military. And with school so expensive, even with help from the GI Bill, it is necessary to have a job to pay for your rent, your food, your transportation, and, often, your health care. Vets that aren't disabled don't see a dime from our government to help with their health care needs.
Earlier this week, during his speech to the American Legion, President Obama challenged the Private Sector to hire or train 100,000 veterans and their spouses by the end of 2013. Our own onceasgt wrote about this in, What was missed by most in the President's Speech to the American Legion.
It is also expected that in his major upcoming speech to the Nation, President Obama will specifically address the high unemployment rate of our veterans and will announce a new tax incentive program to encourage this hiring:
The tax incentive program would be set up on a scale providing companies a $2,400 credit for hiring an unemployed veteran, $4,800 for hiring a veteran who has been unemployed six months or longer, and $9,600 for hiring a veteran with a service-connected disability who has been unemployed for six months or longer.
This could have real life consequences for real life veterans, including one of our very own Kossacks. If you would like to read his personal story, just check out today's Community Spotlighted diary, A Pilgrim's Progress....
Of course, President Obama can't make these changes by himself. He needs the support of Congress. We at the MCM are developing a list of citizen lobbyists. If you would like to add your name to the list, we will inform you when we need you to write or call your congressman about a military community issue. We will especially target those times when our influence can be felt the most, while resolutions are still in committee and need the extra push to seen through to completion.
If you feel compelled to make a difference, United Veterans of America, a Vetwife non-profit, specializes in helping veterans. Currently, we are taking donations in 9thkvius name to help he and his fiancee but donations for all veterans are always welcome. Vetwife and her volunteers help veterans get access to the care that they need. A monthly donation of just a few dollars could help build a fund that is immediately available when the need arises.