Unemployment Among Veterans

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Unemployment rate among veterans are high and jobs elusive. SUMMARY Veterans Day is here and thousands of men and woman who served in the military celebrated this annual event jobless. An article found in the Dayton Daily newspaper (Sunday November 11, 2012, pages A1, A4) stated that 10 percent of veterans are unemployed which is well over the national average of 7.9 percent. This article gives examples of several recently discharge veterans and their struggle to find and keep meaningful employment, especially for single parents. Lawmakers are also working on legislation to certify veterans in their military skill set that will accommodate civilian certification requirements. INTRODUCTION In 2011, approximately 12% of all post 9/11 veterans and nearly 30% of those aged 18-24 were reported to be unemployed (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). These limited estimates on veterans’ unemployment rates have been matched by numerous popular press accounts on the failures of veterans to gain employment. One obstacle for veterans not finding employment is the lack a common frame of reference from non-veterans about veterans and that if the employer is a non-veteran, they have no idea (1) about serving in the military and (2) how a veteran thinks and how much a veterans want to work and find meaningful employment. Another barrier is some employers want ex-servicemembers to have civilian experience for the same type of work the veteran did in the military. This is an issue that affects both men and women even though the women’s un-employment rate is 15.5 percent compared to 9.2 percent for their Gulf War era male counterpart. In this paper, I will examine unemployment from the functionalist, interactionist, conflict theory and feminist perspectives. FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE Functionalists believe that society is held together by social consensus, or cohesion, in

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