Fulfilling the Economic Promise of Military Service

Ever since the passage of the GI Bill in World War II, the United States has put forth the idea that service to the country, particularly through the military, can create economic opportunities for the men and women who join the armed forces. Service in the military in the aftermath of World War II opened pathways to homeownership, college education, and skilled professions to significant numbers of soldiers who served between 1941 and 1945 that had previously been unavailable. This also tremendously benefited the overall economy, not only in manufacturing but also in small business, innovation, and the creation of opportunities for a broader proportion of the working population in the US. Many advances made possible during the Cold War would not have been possible without the tremendous number of skilled veterans who flooded into the economy after World War II and the Korean War.

In the decades since, recapturing this tool of military service as a lever for economic mobility has become much harder but has not disappeared. The Montgomery GI Bill was introduced in 2010 to specifically bring a number of educational and skills benefits to active duty military and veterans in a post-9/11 world. However, unlike in the period after World War II, when military service was widely distributed throughout the US population, veterans of both peacetime and wartime service since then have found significant barriers to returning to the civilian workforce. By 2014 and 2015, there was a wide recognition that a veterans unemployment crisis had developed, with the unemployment rate among veterans not only running consistently three to four points above the general population but pushing well above 10 percent.

Fortunately, a significant number of measures were taken to provide jobs for veterans. By 2023, veteran unemployment had actually dropped to a historic low of 2.1 percent, well below the national average. This demonstrates that if veterans can be recruited and provided with resources, they are clearly employable. But with this rise of hiring veterans, a new problem has developed, namely underemployment, rather than unemployment. In addition, another major issue that remains unaddressed is the underemployment and unemployment rate of military spouses who are looking for work.

Addressing the issues of underemployment of veterans and military spouses requires a clear shift in focus, from simply matching people with jobs to proactively determining which jobs and skills best match the experience not only of veterans but also of spouses seeking to boost their own experience and family income while their family members are deployed. The Department of Defense measures military spouse unemployment at 21 percent, which, when combined with the high rate of food stamp usage among enlisted military families, presents a clear and present need to address spousal skills and employment as part of addressing service member and family economic well-being.

On May 6, at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, we convened a roundtable discussion to address the key actions that can be taken to provide a bridge to economic mobility for veterans and active duty service members looking to transition into the private sector and military spouses, who are routinely left unemployed or underemployed due to the transitory nature of their spouses’ assignments. The attendees worked to address not only how the skills, training, experience, network, and resources of military service can and should provide an inherent advantage in transitioning to the private sector but also how economic well-being for current and former members of the military and their spouses also underlies their mental and social well-being.

In the coming weeks and months, we intend to focus on several key issues, including skills development for transitioning active-duty military personnel and military spouses, veterans’ entrepreneurship and small business skills, and matching veterans with key industries facing pressing needs, ranging from advanced manufacturing to health care to innovative start-ups. In numerous cases, many skilled organizations have innovative programs in these spaces that either need additional support and partnerships or have models that can be translated and expanded or even more effectively matched with the needs of veterans, service members, and their families. In an era where recruiting for the military has faced challenges and companies complain about a lack of skilled and experienced workers, re-establishing military service in the mind of the public and private sectors as one of the key paths to economic advancement is essential.