Equally Valued. Equally Qualified. Equally Served.

The mission of the DOL VETS Women Veteran Program is to make statistical analyses and other research easily accessible in order to inform policy decisions and the national narrative on women veterans. This webpage serves as a repository of both statistical analysis conducted by the Women Veteran Program and links to applicable external research.

Search findings by category.

Highlighted Findings

  • Unemployment Rates July 2020 – June 2023 Averaged | 5.5% Women Veterans | 6.8% Women Nonveterans | 5.7% Male Veterans | 7.0% Male Nonveterans
    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

  • Women Warriors Initiative Report

    Women represent the fastest-growing population in both military service and the veteran community. In greater numbers than ever, women are stepping up to serve in new, critical, and formidable roles contributing to our nation’s national security.

    Read the Women Warrior Initiative report
  • Woman Veteran with husband and daughter sitting on couch
    2019 Gender and Veteran Demographics video

  • Employment Situation of Women Veterans

    “I’d like to show you some comparisons by gender and veteran status, using the Current Population Survey, Annual Averages.... We’ll start out looking at demographics and why I think these are so important to understand, and then we’ll go into some comparisons of labor force participation, unemployment, and a few other things in both 2019 and 2020.”

    2023 Employment Situation of Women Veterans
  • At DOL VETS, women veterans are served equitably to male veterans in everything that we do. In fact, in 2020 15% of the veterans served through the Jobs for Veterans State Grants (JVSG) program were women, and 15% of the veterans who retained employment six months after JVSG services were women! In 2020, only 12% of veterans in the workforce were women).
  • One study(pdf) even showed that women veterans using these services experienced less of a gender wage gap than women nonveterans using comparable services. Veterans receive priority of service for all DOL funded employment programs, and veterans with significant barriers to employment may receive more intensive case management.
  • Women veterans, who make up 10% of veterans and less than 2% of women, have traditionally been underrepresented in research.
  • Findings pertaining to women veterans and labor topics can be scarce and difficult to locate.

Other Resources