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Whitley MD, Apaydin EA. How Working Conditions in Civilian Jobs Can Affect Veterans' Health and Well-Being. RAND [Internet]. 2024 Apr 10:Research Commentary(Expert Insights):DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/PEA1363-12. Available from: https://www.rand.org/.
Too often, policy discussions focus on employment rates over the quality of the jobs that are available to veterans. Ensuring safe and healthy working conditions for veterans should be a priority of policies and programs to improve employment opportunities for this population. Veterans have already put their lives and health on the line for their country, sometimes with long-term effects that make them vulnerable to additional hazards on the job. Understanding why veterans choose the occupations they do and the risks they are exposed to could lead to policies that improve veteran health and support for all workers. There has been a great deal of interest in improving employment opportunities for veterans, and the past few years have brought positive trends (Hall et al., 2014; Babajide, 2016). Unemployment among veterans fell from an average of 8.7 percent in 2010 to 2.8 percent in 2022, and these rates have been consistently lower than those of nonveterans (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023a). However, these statistics do not account for the quality of the jobs available to veterans. In 2021, President Joe Biden stated that his administration's goal was to create "millions of good jobs" for veterans and their spouses (White House, 2021). Although pay is important, good jobs provide more than decent earnings. The U.S. Department of Labor defines good jobs as those that not only offer good pay and benefits but that also have fair hiring practices, are inclusive and equitable, support unions, have good organizational cultures, offer career advancement, and provide safe and healthy working conditions - that is, they minimize risks to physical and mental health (U.S. Department of Labor, undated-a). Working conditions are an important component of health and well-being for all workers. Veterans, who have put their lives and health on the line for their country, should have access to safe, health-enhancing civilian jobs after leaving military service. An important first step in identifying potential areas for improvement is understanding the working conditions that veterans currently experience and how various policies and programs promote safe and healthy workplaces. Using national survey data, we examined differences in the types of jobs that veterans and nonveterans hold and explored implications of these differences and areas for future research.
