New Report: Findings from the 2021 Veteran Civic Health Index

Posted by The Mission Continues on November 9, 2021

In 2021, National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) revived the Veteran Civic Health Index (VCHI) through a partnership with The Mission Continues and Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA).

In the six years since the first VCHI was produced, many things have changed in the United States, including an increase in ideological division, high-level political discord, and a global pandemic.

This fourth edition of the Veteran Civic Health Index tells both a similar story to that of previous installments – veterans exceed non-veterans in civic health – and, at the same time, explores the unique impacts of post-9/11 veterans in a way that was not tackled by previous VCHIs.

Some important findings include:

• Nearly 60 percent of veterans, including more than half of young veterans, give money to charity, compared to 52 percent of nonveterans.
• In 2020, amongst all newly-elected lawmakers age 45 or younger, 27 percent (21 of 79) served in the military.
• Veterans are more likely than non-veterans to be registered to vote and to vote in local elections.
• 74.7 percent of all veterans voted in 2020, compared to 66.9 percent of non-veterans.
• Veterans are nearly 20 percent more likely than non-veterans to spend time with neighbors.
• More than 17 percent of young veterans are women, compared to just 6.7 percent of older veterans.

View the report.