Non-white Veterans Research Articles

Satisfaction With VA and Non-VA Outpatient Care Among Veterans

This study examines veterans' satisfaction with outpatient care within the context of outpatient user type, race/ethnicity, and veteran identity. The sample includes 2652 veterans who participated in the VIP 2001 Survey. After controlling for enabling and need characteristics in logistic regression models, Veterans Administration (VA)-only users were 2 to 8 times more satisfied with their outpatient care than were VA nonusers on 5 out of 10 satisfaction measures. White veterans were 1.5 to 3.4 times more satisfied than nonwhite veterans on 8 out of 10 satisfaction measures. Members of veterans' organizations were less satisfied with their outpatient care than nonmembers on 5 out of 10 satisfaction measures. Factors associated with race/ethnicity and veteran identity may be incorporated into interventions to improve VA outpatient care satisfaction.

Estimating the Labor Market Impact of Voluntary Military Service Using Social Security Data on Military Applicants

This study uses Social Security data on the earnings of military applicants to the all-volunteer forces to compare the earnings of Armed Forces veterans with the earnings of military applicants who did not enlist. Matching, regression, and Instrumental Variables (IV) estimates are presented. The matching and regression estimates control for most of the characteristics used by the military to select qualified applicants from the military applicant pool. The IV estimates exploit an error in the scoring of exams used by the military to screen applicants between 1976 and 1980. All the estimates suggest that soldiers who served in the early 1980s were paid considerably more than comparable civilians while in the military. Military service also appears to have led to a modest (less than 10 percent) increase in the civilian earnings of nonwhite veterans while actually reducing the civilian earnings of white veterans. Most of the positive effects of military service on civilian earnings appear to be attributable to improved employment prospects for veterans.

The Postmilitary Earnings of Female Veterans

The role of women in the military has grown rapidly. Using standard datasets and a special survey of reservists, female veterans are found to have better earnings endowments than nonveterans. Although female veterans have higher unadjusted earnings than nonveterans, a wage disadvantage is found for white but not nonwhite veterans following control for measured and unmeasured skills. Low returns to military service may result from historically limited military opportunities for women and difficulty in transferring skills to civilian jobs.

Military Service and Racial Attitudes of White Veterans

Data from the General Social Survey were analyzed to test the hypotheses that white veterans would express more positive attitudes toward blacks than nonveterans, and that attitudes of white veterans whose military service was in an equal opportunity (post-1975) military would be more positive toward blacks than veterans whose service occurred earlier. Racial attitudes of white veterans and nonveterans differed relatively little after controlling for effects of age, education, and year of survey response. While veterans were slightly more likely to be against special governmental obligation or assistance to black citizens, they were also slightly more apt to say they had recently entertained a black in their homes for dinner. For a limited set of variables white veterans who served after 1975 expressed slightly more negative attitudes toward blacks than did white nonveteran controls. Methodological constraints are discussed and alternative interpretations of the data are offered. The conclusion suggested is that there is no simple way to translate the relative racial harmony which exists within the military to civilian contexts.

Alcohol consumption and problem drinking in Vietnam era veterans and nonveterans.

The relationship between Vietnam era veteran status and 13 indicators of alcohol consumption and problem drinking is examined using data from the 1977, 1983 and 1985 National Health Interview Surveys conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. Compared to a group of nonveterans frequency matched on age, a greater proportion of Vietnam era veterans are currently heavy drinkers and a smaller proportion are abstainers, after simultaneous adjustment for seven demographic factors (age, region of the U.S., urbanization, ethnicity, marital status, education and income). Further, both white veterans and white nonveterans demonstrate an effect of increasing abstention with increasing age across the 3 interview years. In all race and veteran groups the proportion of lifetime abstainers can be ranked in increasing order as follows: white veterans, white nonveterans, non-white veterans and non-white nonveterans. This ranking is reversed for lifetime heavy drinking. Nearly half of the white veterans report drinking heavily at some point in their lives. Among both whites and non-whites, a significantly greater proportion of veterans than nonveterans report alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes or violations.

The Civilian Earnings Experience of Vietnam - Era Veterans

In this paper we examine the civilian earnings experience of Vietnam-era veterans and nonveterans between 1968 and 1977. Contrary to the results of other studies indicating sizable premiums for veterans of earlier wars but significant penalties for Vietnam veterans, we find only small overall differences between the earnings of Vietnam-era veterans and similar nonveterans. However, the absorption of veterans into the civilian labor market was slow, particularly during the early seventies. More detailed analysis shows that Vietnam-era veterans exhibited longitudinal earnings profiles which were initially lower but steeper than those of nonveterans, that veterans' relative earnings improved toward the end of this period, and that younger birth cohorts may have fared more poorly than older cohorts. Only those with less than a high school education consistently realized veteran premiums. We find no evidence that military service has benefited recent cohorts of nonwhite veterans.