By the Numbers - Apr. 4, 2016

By the Numbers - Apr. 4, 2016

64 and 45

The median ages, respectively, of male and female users of VA benefits in 2014, according to an analysis released last month by the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics --Unique Veteran Users Report: FY 2014 (PDF).

According to the report, approximately 9.4 million Veterans used at least one VA benefit or service in FY 2014. Of these 9.4 million, 41% used multiple benefits (which is up from 30% in 2005). The most heavily used benefit was health care (5.9 million), followed by compensation/pension (4.2 million).  

Other interesting statistics from the report:

  • The percent of female Veterans who used VA benefits increased from 31% in 2005 to 40% in 2014. The corresponding rate among male Veterans in 2005 and 2014 was 36% and 43%, respectively.
  • Veterans above the sex-adjusted, median age are more likely to use VA benefits and services.
  • Veteran users tend to have lower household incomes than non-users. (45% of VA users have household incomes below $50,000 compared to 40% of Veterans who did notuse VA benefits in 2014.)
  • Education benefit use was stable through 2010, but trends upward markedly after 2011, followed by subtle decline in 2014.
  • The number of Veterans using VA benefits increased slightly in recent years despite more than a 14% decline in the total Veteran population since 2005. 
  • The number of female Veterans has grown by less than 12% while the number of female Veterans using VA benefits has grown by almost 42% since 2005.

VA Benefits Utilization by Program