Access and Equity Among Veterans During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Research Note

It has long been recognized that at-risk groups tend to experience a greater proportion of burden during times of turbulence. Motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic as a source of unprecedented crisis and change, this article uses data on employment, wages, and subjective well-being (SWB) to examine how U.S. veterans—an at-risk group for a variety of social ailments, including homelessness, disability, depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicide—fared over the pandemic between 2020 and 2021. While veterans were less likely to be employed, those who were employed have higher wages, conditional on being employed, and higher levels of SWB. Our results are qualitatively robust to controlling for a wide array of demographic factors, such as age and education, as well as industry and occupational differences. To better understand why veterans fared better than anticipated, we explore the moderating role of local Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers (VAMCs). We find that veterans who live closer to VAMCs exhibit higher levels of SWB with some evidence that the benefits of VAMC proximity are concentrated among more rural veterans, suggesting that VAMCs may have played an important role of supporting veteran communities during the pandemic.