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How We Take Care of Families of Those Who Died While Serving in U.S. Armed Forces
This Memorial Day as we honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces, we also remember the families they left behind and look at how the government supports them.
Family members such as a surviving spouse, surviving parent, or dependent child are eligible for some of the benefits the government provides survivors in honor of service members’ sacrifices.
Of the individual nonveterans who received survivor benefits, roughly 80% were women and three-quarters were widowed. Their mean age: 71.
According to the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), about 20 million or 15.4% of the nation’s households had at least one veteran present in 2017. About 5.9 million of these homes received some type of government assistance — such as education, health insurance and survivor pensions — related to military service.
But some 600,000 households without a veteran present also received military compensation in 2017. While some are non-veteran members of the National Guard, the majority (76%) are “survivor” households, those with the surviving spouse, children or parents of someone who died during active service.
Who Are the Survivors?
Of the individual nonveterans who received survivor benefits, roughly 80% were women and three-quarters were widowed. Their mean age: 71.
These stats suggest that the majority of benefit recipients were surviving spouses, though parents and dependent children are also eligible.
There are numerous programs available to service members and the families of those who died.
Among them:
- Home loans. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs loan programs are available to veterans, current members of the armed forces and military families/survivors, make buying a home much easier. There’s no down payment, lower interest rates and you can borrow as much as 100% of a home’s value. About 7% of survivors have a VA loan, according to the SIPP.
- Health care. Comprehensive health care benefits are available to veterans and survivors through either CHAMPVA or TRICARE, depending on their circumstances. In 2017, half of survivors were covered under military health care.
- Pension. A VA Survivors pension offers monthly payments to surviving spouses and unmarried dependent children through the VA Dependency and Compensation (DIC) program. The monthly amount varies depending on what year the military member died, if they had a disability and the number of children. About half of survivors received a pension from from DIC in 2017.
- Education. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reports that in fiscal year 2019, over 900,000 veterans and/or family members received education benefits totaling almost $12 billion. The largest education program was the Post-9/11 GI Bill that provided benefits to 714,000 veterans or family members, at a cost of almost $11 billion. While the SIPP does not provide information on survivors’ use of VA education benefits, we do know that half of the survivors counted in the 2017 SIPP attended college.
Nothing can replace the men and women who died in service to their country. But there are many government programs available to help their families. More information on eligibility is available in the VA Benefits For Spouses, Survivors, And Dependents report.
The SIPP is the nation’s premier source of information for income and program participation. It collects data and measures change in Americans’ economic well-being, family dynamics, education, assets, health insurance, child care, and food security. Information on the methodology and reliability of these estimates can be found in the source and accuracy statements for each data release.
Tracy A. Loveless is a survey statistician in the Census Bureau’s Program Participation and Income Transfers Branch.
Story Ideas and Statistics
Stats for Stories
Memorial Day: May 29, 2023
Memorial Day, established in 1868 as Decoration Day, honors the 1.2 million men and women who have died in military service since the Civil War began in 1861.
Stats for Stories
Armed Forces Day: May 20, 2023
The 2021 American Community Survey estimated the U.S. had 257.1 million people 18 years and over, and of those, 16.5 million, or 6.4 percent, were veterans.
Stats for Stories
National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day: July 27, 2023
There were 1.2M American veterans living in 2019 who served during the Korean War, down about 80% from 5.7M who served worldwide throughout that wartime period.
Census.gov > Topics > Population
The U.S. Census Bureau is the leading source of statistical information about the nation’s people. Our population statistics come from decennial censuses, which count the entire U.S. population every ten years, along with several other surveys.
Newsroom
Press Release
Estados Unidos está envejeciendo
Las nuevas estimaciones de población resaltan el aumento de la mediana de edad nacional.
Press Release
America Is Getting Older
The nation’s median age increased by 0.2 years to 38.9 years between 2021 and 2022, according to Vintage 2022 Population Estimates released today.
Press Release
Census Bureau Releases New 2020 Census Data on Age, Sex, Race, Hispanic Origin, Households and Housing
The next round of 2020 Census data are available, adding more detail to the population counts and basic demographic and housing statistics previously released.
Videos
Video
Accessing 2020 Census Detailed DHC-A Data: Census Tracts
Learn how to find 2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A data at the Census Tract level on data.census.gov.
Video
How the Detailed DHC-A Adaptive Design Determines Data Availability
In this video tutorial, we show you what to expect in data.census.gov when accessing data from the 2020 Census Detailed DHC-A.
Video
2020 Census Detailed DHC-A: Using the Census Data API to Get a Table
Learn how to access data from the Application Programming Interface (API) to get a table from the 2020 Census Detailed DHC-A.
Data Tables
Table
Nearly a Third Reporting Two or More Races Were Under 18 in 2020: Supplementary Tables
These tables present race by age data from the 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics File (DHC).
Table
The Older Population in the United States: 2022
These are the 2022 detailed tables for the older population in the United States.
Table
Age and Sex Composition in the United States: 2022
These are the 2022 detailed tables for age and sex in the United States.
Visualizations
Visualization
Homeownership by Race and Ethnicity of Householder
View the differences in homeownership rate, number of homeowners, and number of housing units between 2010 and 2020.
Visualization
Highest Number of Employees for Hispanic-Owned Employer Businesses
This graphic show the sectors with the highest number of employees for Hispanic-Owned employer businesses.
Visualization
Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census
Explore population counts for detailed race and ethnicity groups and American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages for the nation, states, and counties.
Publications
Publication
Aging Veterans: America's Veterans in Later Life
Older veterans are less likely to be living in poverty and less likely to socially isolated than other older adults who never served in the armed forces.
Publication
Migration in the United States: 2006 to 2019
Both the number of movers and the percentage of people moving declined from 2006 to 2019, and movers became more likely to cross certain geographic boundaries.
Publication
Multiple Partner Fertility Research Brief: 2021
This research brief provides an overview of the prevalence of multiple partner fertility in the United States in 2021.
Fact Sheets
Fact Sheet
Population Data Available for 2020 Census Race, Ethnicity, and AIAN
The 2020 Census produced data for nearly 1,500 detailed racial and ethnic groups and AIAN tribes and villages - the most in U.S. Census Bureau history.
Fact Sheet
Differences Among Demographic Data Releases
The following data products come from the 2020 Census, the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates and the Population Estimates Program.
Fact Sheet
Which Data Set Is Right for Me?
Key differences between the Decennial Census, Population Estimates Program and the American Community Survey.
America Counts Story
Who Are the Nation’s Veterans?
Veterans who served after the September 11, 2001, attacks are more likely to have a service-connected disability than veterans from any other service period.
America Counts Story
Post-9/11 Veterans More Likely Than Nonveterans to be Employed
A new Census Bureau report reveals how the employment of post-9/11 veterans differs from that of those who never served in the armed forces.
America Counts Story
When Army Heroes Return to the Civilian Labor Market
Veterans Employment Outcomes, a new Census Bureau experimental product, shows how U.S. Army veterans fare in the job market after discharge.
Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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