Young Veterans and the Transition to Civilian Employment: Does Marital Status Matter?

Abstract

The sequencing and timing of employment, education, and family formation differs between veterans and nonveterans due to the overlapping nature of military service with other commitments such as higher education and civilian labor force participation. Labor market opportunities and outcomes for these young veterans are an important step in their transition to adulthood, likely influencing and being influenced by, in particular, family decisions, such as marriage and becoming a parent. Using nationally representative data, we examine how veteran and marital status influence labor force participation, employment, earnings, and college enrollment. In summary, veterans appear to do worse than their peers in terms of labor force participation and employment. The veteran “penalty” in labor force participation is only significant for married veterans, compared against married nonveterans. All veterans, single, married, divorced or separated, male or female appear to have lower odds of employment than civilians. Accounting for compositional differences only increases this gap. Among those who do find paid work, male veterans appear to out earn their civilian peers.