As public concern over threats against the U.S. dwindle, the economy booms, and the same war rages for 17 years, military legacy families, sometimes called “warrior” families, disproportionately carry the country’s military load when it comes to enlisting.
According to Defense Department data, over 80 percent of young Americans who enlisted in 2015 have a family member who served in the military. For more than one-third of those young people, that person was a parent.
While it’s no surprise that the careers and lifestyles you’re exposed to growing up may shape your goals, it’s important to note that low- and middle-income families carry a unique bulk of the weight of defending our country.
The military has long been stereotyped as recruiting youths who are low-income, isolated, and otherwise disadvantaged, promising job security, livable wages, and relatively higher social standing. Patriotism and honor aside, when and where jobs are scarce, the U.S. military is, at the very least, a stable and reputable employer.
It’s not just income that matters, but location. In 2016, according to a report commissioned by the Defense Department, roughly 44 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds who enlisted were from the South.
For perspective, the South contains nearly 80 percent of the poorest counties in the U.S. “Poor,” defined here as the median family making less than about $35,000 per year.
A little over 20 percent of those who enlisted came from the West, and 18 percent from the Midwest. The Northeast, where much of the country’s wealth is concentrated, makes up the least, at just about 12 percent. Cities are generally deserts for recruits.
Sadly, this pattern is long-established. For example, a 2005 Pentagon report shows that 44 percent of our military recruits come from rural areas. The same figures suggest that nearly half of those recruits come from poor or lower-middle-class households.
In fact, Pentagon data shows that in 2004, almost two-thirds of Army recruits came from counties where the median household income fell below the country’s median.
While stories of fathers and sons serving in the same war, almost literally following in a parent’s footsteps, may warm some hearts, they feel difficult to swallow when one considers the lack of support our country offers veterans.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), homelessness, and addiction continue to plague veterans who return home. Many feel that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) fails veterans who seek medical care—especially mental health treatment—when they come up against long wait times, staff with a high turnover rate, and limited availability of appointments.
Families of veterans carry burdens of war, too. After combat, vets returning home with PTSD are three times more likely to be violent. And while the VA is a resource (if not a perfect one) for veterans, it offers less help for partners and children.
PTSD, addiction, domestic violence—all impact people across socioeconomic levels. But for historically low-income people, and those living in rural areas, largely isolated from much of the country, these obstacles can feel especially difficult to navigate. And as the same families and communities make up our military force, these already disenfranchised groups continue to carry much of the country’s trauma.