The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the U.S. economy, with lockdowns beginning in March 2020 that caused widespread job losses. While women generally faced more career setbacks than men during this period, the opposite was true for women veterans, according to research from the University of Utah.
“Veteran women fared better than veteran men during the pandemic, particularly in terms of keeping their jobs,” the researchers found. They also saw smaller drops in income. This result stood in stark contrast to trends in the general population, where women typically experienced greater job losses than men.
Different pathways
The researchers analyzed data from the Current Population Survey, which tracks employment across the U.S. For the period starting in March 2020, they examined responses from 30,000 women and 200,000 men who had served in the military. Women accounted for 13% of the sample, reflecting their growing presence in the armed forces, where they now make up 18% of active-duty personnel. Veterans as a whole represent just 6% of the American workforce.
“Veterans are a distinct group of workers,” the authors explain. “Their military careers often set them on a different trajectory, with more flexibility or smaller workloads in civilian life. For many, the intense first chapter of their career as soldiers is already behind them.”
The study controlled for a range of factors, including education, race, marital status, number of children, industry, occupation, union membership, and public sector employment. Even after accounting for these variables, veteran women outperformed veteran men in maintaining employment during the pandemic.
An unexpected edge
The researchers found additional patterns worth noting. For example, veteran women had an employment edge in public sector jobs, particularly among Black women, women with less education, and working mothers without young children. Women veterans were also more likely to work remotely than their male counterparts, which may have helped them stay employed and avoid health risks during the pandemic.
Access to remote work wasn’t the only factor. Previous studies have shown that women veterans often enjoy better social support and government assistance than civilian women, which could have helped them weather the lockdowns. Additionally, women veterans tend to earn a wage premium compared to non-veteran women, likely due to qualities cultivated in the military, such as resilience and an ability to succeed in male-dominated environments.
“It’s not just about men falling behind,” the researchers conclude. “This is a story of veteran women leveraging unique strengths to navigate a challenging labor market.”
