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.
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:
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.
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