Gavin Kinney, left, and his brother Rigel hold up a sign at the New York City Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11, 2015. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Gavin Kinney, left, and his brother Rigel hold up a sign at the New York Metropolis Veterans 24-hour interval Parade on Nov. xi, 2015. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

At that place are around 19 meg U.S. veterans as of this year, according to data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, representing less than 10% of the full U.S. adult population. Hither are cardinal facts from the VA, the U.South. Census Bureau and other sources nearly those who take served in the armed forces and how this population is irresolute.

As U.S. demographics continue to shift, and then does the makeup of the American veteran population. Pew Research Center has analyzed some of these changes using information from the Department of Veterans Diplomacy, the U.S. Demography Bureau, the Section of Defense, Center surveys and other news reports. The 2021 and 2046 estimates of the veteran population come from projections published by the VA in 2018.

Looking forward at the changing profile of U.S. veterans

Gulf War-era veterans at present account for the largest share of all U.S. veterans, having surpassed Vietnam-era veterans in 2016, according to the VA's 2018 population model estimates. VA estimates for 2021 indicate there are 5.nine meg American veterans who served during the Vietnam era and 7.8 million who served in the Gulf War era, which spans from Baronial 1990 through the nowadays. There are also around 240,000 Earth State of war II veterans and about 933,000 who served during the Korean conflict, the VA estimates. Some veterans served through multiple eras only are counted only in their earliest era. Roughly three-quarters (78%) of veterans in 2021 served during wartime, and 22% served during peacetime. (Veterans with wartime and peacetime service are only counted in wartime.)

The share of the U.S. population with military feel is declining. In 2018, about 7% of U.Due south. adults were veterans, downwardly from 18% in 1980, according to the Demography Bureau. This drop coincides with decreases in active-duty personnel. Over the past half-century, the number of people on active duty has dropped significantly, from 3.5 million in 1968, during the military machine draft era, to most 1.iv million (or less than ane% of all U.S. adults) in today's all-volunteer forcefulness. The draft concluded in 1973.

VA projections advise the number of living veterans will continue to decline over the next 25 years. Past 2046, the section estimates there will be around 12.5 million veterans, a decrease of almost 35% from current numbers. By that time, Gulf State of war-era veterans are projected to make up a majority of those who served, and nigh veterans who served in the Vietnam era or before will have died.

The demographic profile of veterans is expected to change in the next quarter century. Currently, most nine-in-ten veterans (89%) are men, while nearly one-in-10 (11%) are women, according to the VA'due south 2021 population model estimates. Past 2046, the share of female veterans is expected to increment to about 18%. The number of female veterans is also projected to increase slightly, from effectually 2 meg in 2021 to approximately 2.ii million in 2046. The number of male veterans, on the other paw, is projected to drib from about 17 million in 2021 to around 10.iii 1000000 in 2046.

As with trends in the U.Due south. population overall, the veteran population is expected to become more racially and ethnically various. Between 2021 and 2046, the share of veterans who are not-Hispanic White is expected to drop from 74% to 62%. The share of veterans who are Hispanic is expected to double from 8% to 16%, while the share who are Blackness is expected to increase slightly from xiii% to fifteen%.

Projections too bespeak that the veteran population will become slightly younger, with 33% of veterans being younger than 50 in 2046 compared with 27% in 2021, even as the overall U.S. population continues to age. The share of veterans ages 50 to 69 is expected to shrink from 36% to 33%, while the share of those 70 and older is predicted to exist around a third of the total (34%) by 2046, slightly lower than the current share (37%).

Fewer veterans in Congress

Fewer members of Congress have prior military machine experience than in the past. As the share of Americans who are veterans has declined, so has the share of legislators who take previously served in the war machine. In the electric current Congress, 17% of lawmakers in both houses had prior military service, down drastically from just a few decades ago.

The share of senators who are veterans reached a post-Korean War superlative of 81% in 1975, while the share among Firm members peaked in 1967 at 75%. Notwithstanding, in recent elections, both Democrats and Republicans have fabricated special efforts to recruit veterans for congressional contests, and the newly elected freshman class includes xv such lawmakers.

A number of federal agencies viewed favorably by majorities of the public

The Department of Veterans Affairs receives a relatively low favorability rating compared with other government agencies. The VA received the third-lowest rating among ten agencies and departments in a Pew Inquiry Eye survey terminal spring. Roughly two-thirds of U.Southward. adults (65%) had a favorable view of the VA, and 22% expressed an unfavorable view. As with many of the agencies and departments in the survey, in that location were partisan differences in approving. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents expressed college favorability for the VA (72%) than Democrats and Autonomous leaners (61%).

A 2019 survey found veterans themselves had mixed feelings about the agency: 9% of veterans said the department was doing an excellent job meeting the needs of armed services veterans; 37% said the VA was doing a good task. Well-nigh half said it was doing only a off-white (37%) or poor (15%) job.

Americans proceed to run into veterans' services as an important priority. In a March 2019 survey, a 72% majority of U.S. adults (and identical 72% shares of Republicans and Democrats) said that if they were making the federal budget, they would increase spending for veterans' benefits and services – the highest share of all 13 program areas included in the survey, except for education (as well 72%), and the second-highest level of support for increased spending on veterans services since the Centre start asked the question in 2001.