Half of Americans say the US does a bad job providing resources for veterans

Jamie BallardData Journalist
November 11, 2020, 5:45 PM GMT+0

November 11 is Veterans Day, which honors people who have served in the US military. Data from YouGov suggests that many Americans believe the US government has failed military veterans.

A poll of more than 11,000 US adults finds that 52% of US adults believe that the US government generally does a bad job providing resources for veterans. Another 36% believe the government does a somewhat good (28%) or very good (8%) job.

Those with personal military experience are less likely to describe the US government as doing poorly on this. In fact, those who are either actively serving in the military or who are veterans themselves are about twice as likely (17%) as the average American to say that the US government does a very good job providing resources for veterans. Another 39% of those with military experience believe the government does a somewhat good job. About two in five (42%) current or former members of the military say the US government does a bad job providing support for veterans.

Among those who have an immediate family member who served or is serving in the US military, 43% say the US government does a good job providing resources. Half (50%) say the government does a somewhat bad (30%) or very bad (20%) job of this.

Methodology: Total weighted sample size was 11,554 US Adults aged 18+, including 690 who either are currently serving or have served in the US military, and 399 who said their spouse, parent, child, or sibling is currently serving or has served in the US military. Participants were asked, “Do you think the US government generally does a good or bad job providing resources for veterans?" Response options were: "Very good,” “Somewhat good,” “Somewhat bad,” “Very bad,” and “Don’t know.” The survey was conducted between October 2019 – October 2020. The responding sample is weighted to provide a representative sample of the United States.

Image: Getty