Did life get better or worse after joining the Self-Defense Forces?

Did life get better or worse after a career in the Australian Defense Force?

The 2021 Census simply asked respondents if they were members of the ADF. Combined with other census data points, his current ADF personnel and veterans can be analyzed alike.

Let’s start with the basics. About 85,000 men and women are currently serving. The number of veterans defined as those who previously served in the ADF he is 496,000. Over time, the ADF has become more feminine (21% of current members vs. 13% of former members) and a bit more multicultural (16% of current members and 14% of former members were born abroad). ), and became more indigenous. (3.2% of current members vs. his 2.1% of former members).

Queensland is Australia’s ancient capital and is home to 140,000 former ADF members. We had expected older veterans to move to Sunshine State, but the concentration could be the result of a strong military presence in Queensland.

Only 19% of the veterans population live in Victoria, but 26% of the total population. Given its low percentage of active personnel (13%), Victoria still appears to be an attractive destination for veterans of all ages.

The most common age for members currently serving in the military is 27. Half of the ADF are from He’s 18 to He’s 33. There are no members over the age of 65 (an elderly person can serve as a counselor).

The age profile of veterans reflects their historical involvement in war. A small surge in the 90’s are remaining WWII veterans.

Over 730,000 Australians, mostly men, served in the ADF during World War II. Over the age of 95 he is 3 out of 4200 men he is a WWII veteran. We are slowly losing our last eyewitness to World War II. The surge in veterans in the 80s reflects his 77,000 Australians who served in the Korean War, while the surge in the 70s is driven by his 60,000 ADF personnel who served in the Vietnam War.

financial gain

Is it rewarding to serve your country? We can only speculate about the implications that staff derive from serving in the ADF, but we can easily compare the economic and health outcomes of veterans with the rest of the population.

Financially, serving with ADF is a smart move that will set people up for long-term success. His 74% of current employees in their 30s earn more than $78,000 a year, and he is the only 37% of civilians in their 30s who reach that threshold (veterans in their 30s 54%).

The same general trend persists throughout the lifecycle. Financial results for (former) ADF members are well above the Australian average. This is also reflected in the high home ownership rate among veterans. Retirement rent is a strong indicator of poverty. The rent for all veterans is only 19%, compared to his 29% national average. Better financial results are associated with training provided by ADF. No one leaves without practical skills and qualifications.

For what it’s worth, veterans (22%) are significantly more likely to volunteer than those who have never served (15%), suggesting healthier social networks.

So how is everything going in the world of defense? Health data suggests the opposite.

What is the health status of veterans?

Let’s start with the good news. A veteran is 32% less likely to have asthma than other people (that number goes up to 42% for active duty personnel).

Physical work, active lifestyle, fresh air – whatever the reason, asthma is not a major problem with ADF. Current employees are three times less likely to have diabetes and 32% less likely to have arthritis than the national average for their relevant age group. It probably reflects a physically active lifestyle.

So much for the good news. Veterans are 75% more likely to have diabetes and 73% more likely to have arthritis.

Things get worse from here. A veteran has twice as many cancers as the national average, he is 2.5 times more likely to have heart disease, and he is twice as likely to have dementia. Of course, these are only top-level numbers, but they serve as a starting point for further investigation.

What is certain is that the overall health of veterans needs to improve dramatically.

We haven’t talked about elephants in the room yet. Mental health outcomes for veterans.I wrote My column on mental health In the last week, women were probably more likely to seek help with mental health issues and men’s mental health conditions were likely not reported. nearly twice as likely as men in the general population to have a mental health condition, but the ADF mental health data reverses the trend.

severe tendencies of men

Only 1.7% of female employees complain of chronic mental health conditions, a third of the male figure (4.8%). For veterans, the trend is even more pronounced, as her 8.2% of male veterans and one-fifth of her females (1.6%) report poor mental health.

Interestingly, active duty personnel tend to report better mental health outcomes than veterans and civilians. Serving at ADF seems to feed a thirst for meaning that so many people seem unable to find in their work.

It is of utmost importance to investigate the reasons behind these mental health figures in more detail. Hmm.

Another reason is that the male culture in the military may lead female personnel to “very masculine” behavior, which may result in them not seeking mental health treatment. Census data cannot answer these questions. At least we know where ADF and researchers should focus their research efforts in mental health.