The social safety net – the shared service programs that assist low-income Americans – provides essential support, but some may be surprised by the number of veterans requiring such services. A look at the numbers spotlight the real struggle some veterans encounter to put food on their table or a roof over their head after their military service has ended.
With about 270,000 veterans in Oklahoma, we have one of the nation’s largest percentages of veterans. A large number of our veterans live in poverty, especially those who report a disability. About 7% of Oklahoma’s working-age veterans live below the poverty rate. That rate more than doubles for working-age Oklahoma veterans with a disability.
Putting food on the table is a concern for some veteran households, with government researchers finding that veterans have a 7.4% greater risk for food insecurity than those who did not serve in the military. Nearly 1 in 12 Oklahoma veterans received support through SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) to help them purchase nutritious food for their families. Among working-age veterans, food insecurity is highest among disabled veterans (1 in 3), unemployed veterans (1 in 5), and female veterans (1 in 8). Further, veterans living outside of the metropolitan areas and suburbs report the highest rates of food insecurity.
The plight of veterans experiencing homelessness has received much attention over the years, and Oklahoma is not immune from this issue. About 1 in 10 of Oklahomans experiencing homelessness are veterans.
Many veterans struggle with access to health care coverage because VA medical care is not universally available to all veterans due to eligibility requirements based on veteran status, service-connected disability status, income level, and other factors. Nationwide, there are about 1.5 million uninsured veterans, including nearly 20,000 in Oklahoma. These are some of the very people benefiting from life-changing access to health care via Oklahoma’s decision to expand Medicaid coverage.
As lawmakers look at funding for social safety net programs to assist low-income residents, this Veterans Day – and every day – we should remember that many of those who served our country are counted among our friends and neighbors who benefit from these programs. For these individuals who pledged their very lives for our country, we should be doing all we can to repay our debts for their service and sacrifice.
Ahniwake Rose is executive director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute.