Publication year
2011
Citation Title
Work-related disability, veteran status, and poverty: Implications for family well-being.
Journal Name
Journal of Poverty
Journal Volume
15
Issue Number
3
Page Numbers
330-349
DOI
10.1080/10875549.2011.589259
Summary
The associations between work-limiting disability, Veteran status, and household poverty were examined. The study used data from the 1992 to 2004 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation survey collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Overall, Veteran households had considerably lower odds of poverty than disabled non-Veteran households.
Key Findings
Households that include a person with a work-limiting disability are more likely to be living in poverty (27%) compared to those that do not (11%), and households that do not include a Veteran are more likely to be living in poverty (15%) than households that include a Veteran (7%).
Veterans with a disability are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as nondisabled Veterans (13% vs. 6%), which is nearly equal to the poverty ratio of disabled to non-disabled non-Veterans (33% to 12%).
Being a Veteran served as a protective factor for those with a disability: 13.19% of households with a Veteran who has a work-limiting disability are at the poverty level, compared to 33% of households with a non-Veteran who has a disability.
Implications for Program Leaders
Include curricula and/or services for disabled Service members and their families, particularly to help address financial well-being
Make workshops, seminars, and resources readily available to professionals who work with military families to educate them about the challenges faced by disabled Service members and their families
Offer support groups for Service members who have a work-limiting disability
Implications for Policy Makers
Encourage collaboration among DoD programs and community-based organizations to support a smooth transition for departing Service members who are disabled
Recommend integrating financial counseling into existing service delivery systems for military families
Promote reintegration programs that include attention to assisting Service members’ family in adjusting to the Service member’s return
Methods
This study provided data predicting poverty for 58,686 U.S. households. Over five waves of data (1992 to 2004) were collected by the U.S. Census Bureau as part of the Survey of Income and Program Participation.
Participants were interviewed every four months and each panel was interviewed 9 times over 3 years (1992, 1993, and 1996) or 12 times over 4 years (2001, 2004).
Each interview consisted of a core interview, with standard questions on demographics, labor force participation, and income, as well as a topical module interview, which includes questions on topics that change within a panel from one interview to the next.
Participants
Participants (N = 58,686 households) were all under the age of 65; 2.72% of households included a disabled Veteran; 13.67% included nondisabled Veteran.
Seventy-two percent of households were White, 12% were Black; 9% were Latino/Latina (regardless of race), 2% were Asian-American, and 5% were multicultural.
No information on Veterans' rank or time period they served were provided.
Limitations
Untested variables may be influencing results; that is, the households including Veterans vs. non-Veterans may differ on factors that were unobserved and/or not measured in this study.
Constructs may be confounded by the fact that “work-limiting disabilities” does not capture the full range of specific functional limitations and disabilities that could be experienced by Veterans or influence the likelihood of poverty.
The data in this study were descriptive therefore conclusions about causation cannot be determined.
Avenues for Future Research
Examine how participation in different disability programs is associated with poverty and the well-being of Service members with disabilities and their family members
Identify specific characteristics of disabled Veterans that might help explain why the poverty rate in their households is substantially lower than non-Veterans with disabilities
Explore how the interaction of Veteran and disability status affects spouses and children
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
The authors examine the interrelationships between work-related disability, veteran, and poverty statuses using data from the 1992–2004 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. They find that households with nondisabled veterans present have a lower likelihood of poverty, but that advantage is severely eroded when the veteran or another family member has a work-limiting disability. Nevertheless, all veteran households have substantially lower odds of poverty than disabled nonveteran households, which have the highest poverty rate (32.53%). Veteran and disability statuses interact at the household level in ways that contribute to substantial variability in household-level poverty, which has implications for all household members.
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