Since the time of the All-Volunteer Force, the number of women serving in the military has grown. Ultimately, these women make the transition from service member to veteran. In 2015, women comprised 9.4 percent of the total veteran population in the United States.
By 2043, women are projected to make up 16.3 percent of all living Veterans. This report summarizes the history of women in the military and as veterans, profiles the characteristics of women veterans in 2015, illustrates how women Veterans in 2015 used some of the major benefits and services that are offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and discusses the future of women veterans in relation to VA.
Demographic Characteristics
The total population of women veterans is expected to increase at an average rate of about 18,000 women per year for the next 10 years. Women Veterans currently are and will continue to be an important part of the veteran community and an important part of VA.
Approximately 2 million veterans in the United States and Puerto Rico were women. Women represented about 9.4 percent of the total veteran population in 2015.
Twenty-five percent of all living women veterans served only during peace times. Fifty-six percent of all women veterans have served during the Gulf War Era (August 1990 to the present).
The median age of women veterans in 2015 was 50, compared with 46 for non-veteran women.
In 2015, 19 percent of women veterans were African American, compared with 12 percent of non-Veteran women. African American women are also overrepresented compared to African American men in the military. In contrast, the percentage of women veterans who were Hispanic was almost half that of non-veterans (9 percent compared with 16 percent). The percentage of women veterans who were Asian is less than half that of non-veterans (2 percent compared with 5.5 percent).
Generally, as the percentage of Hispanics in the general population rises, their representation in the military rises as well, therefore the percentage of Hispanic women veterans is expected to increase in the future.
Women veterans were more likely to have ever married than non-veteran women. In 2015, 84 percent of women veterans were currently married, divorced, widowed, or separated compared with 72 percent of non-veteran women.
In 2015, 23.4 percent of all women veterans were currently divorced compared with 12.6 percent of non-veteran women.
In 2015, 28.6 percent of all women veterans under the age of 65 had children 17 years old or younger living at home, and 29.9 percent of non-veteran women had children 17 years old or younger living at home.
