Employment at All-Time High for Veterans With Disabilities

Since 2008, the employment rate for veterans with disabilities has outpaced job rates for nonveterans with disabilities and veterans without disabilities, according to data presented by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability.

Researchers parsed job rates for veterans with disabilities and veterans without disabilities, compared with people with disabilities who are not veterans, for the years 2008 through 2023.

The findings showed employment gains for all veterans until the COVID-19 pandemic, with job increases sharpest for veterans with disabilities. The pandemic lockdown slowed progress, however.

“Veterans with disabilities saw their gains level off, while other groups experienced steep losses during the pandemic,” said Andrew Houtenville, PhD, professor of economics at University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, and research director of the institute on disability.

During recovery from the pandemic, employment reached a historic high for veterans, and veterans with disabilities have gone on to continue their gains post-pandemic. The October 2023 employment-to-population ratio for veterans with disabilities was an all-time high of 43.8%. The rate for nonveterans with disabilities was 35.1%.

“In fact, our data show that since the Great Recession, veterans with disabilities are doing better over time, in that they are increasingly more likely to be employed than veterans without disabilities,” Dr Houtenville said.

In related news, a randomized controlled trial compared conventional vocational rehabilitation with an evidence-based approach called Individual Placement and Support for veterans with chronic spinal cord injury. At 43%, the employment success rate with Individual Placement and Support was nearly triple the rate with conventional vocational rehabilitation, according to Lisa Ottomanelli, PhD, of the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Clinics, Tampa, Florida.

“Transitioning to Individual Placement and Support is an important advance in the rehabilitation of veterans with spinal cord injury,” said Dr Ottomanelli. “This onramp to employment carries the potential for greater independence and better quality of life for our veterans.”

Reference

nTIDE November 2023 deeper dive: veterans with disabilities achieve record highs for employment. News release. Kessler Foundation; November 30, 2023. Accessed December 4, 2023.