By the Numbers: 3 October 2022
14%
The percentage of of veterans who will be women by 2032, according to an article from the RAND Corporation -- Improving Support for Veteran Women: Veterans' Issues in Focus. Currently, 10% of veterans are women.
The VA mission statement is a symptom of a broader tendency to associate veteran status with men. Public debates about women's service in combat units and their historic "firsts," like completing Ranger School, have brought attention to women service members and made them very visible to the public. Women have also historically been the most visible within the military; because of their limited numbers and differential dress and grooming standards, they do not "blend in" with their peers. Women service members often face scrutiny from commanders and peers who are men and find it difficult to fully assimilate with their units. Yet, when they transition to civilian life, they become "invisible," not recognized as veterans in the same way as their male peers (Goldstein, 2018; Thomas and Hunter, 2019). As a result, their presence has historically been overlooked, their contributions underappreciated, and their needs underexamined and underresourced (VA Center for Women Veterans, 2022). Women are the fastest-growing population of service members and veterans and, according to the Veterans Health Administration, they account for 30 percent of new patients (VA, 2022b). As Figure 1 indicates, even as the overall number of veterans declines, the population of veteran women is projected to increase over the coming decade. By 2032, at least 14 percent of veterans will be women, compared with approximately 10 percent today (VA National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, 2021).
14%
The percentage of of veterans who will be women by 2032, according to an article from the RAND Corporation -- Improving Support for Veteran Women: Veterans' Issues in Focus. Currently, 10% of veterans are women.
The VA mission statement is a symptom of a broader tendency to associate veteran status with men. Public debates about women's service in combat units and their historic "firsts," like completing Ranger School, have brought attention to women service members and made them very visible to the public. Women have also historically been the most visible within the military; because of their limited numbers and differential dress and grooming standards, they do not "blend in" with their peers. Women service members often face scrutiny from commanders and peers who are men and find it difficult to fully assimilate with their units. Yet, when they transition to civilian life, they become "invisible," not recognized as veterans in the same way as their male peers (Goldstein, 2018; Thomas and Hunter, 2019). As a result, their presence has historically been overlooked, their contributions underappreciated, and their needs underexamined and underresourced (VA Center for Women Veterans, 2022). Women are the fastest-growing population of service members and veterans and, according to the Veterans Health Administration, they account for 30 percent of new patients (VA, 2022b). As Figure 1 indicates, even as the overall number of veterans declines, the population of veteran women is projected to increase over the coming decade. By 2032, at least 14 percent of veterans will be women, compared with approximately 10 percent today (VA National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, 2021).