Spotlight on War Poets

Since it is Veterans Day, My Poetic Side is shining a spotlight on some of their favorite war poets. There are seven featured authors, each related to a different war and ordered chronologically, from The American Civil War to the Iraq War.

You can read the full article HERE

Veterans statistics

The Census Bureau has released a series of graphics showing maps and statistics about veterans living in the 50 states, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

This information is available HERE. The New York State graphic is HERE.

Please enjoy these statistics and pass them along to your networks and partners.

Veterans Day 2015: Nov. 11

Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary marking the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars. The day honors military veterans with parades and speeches across the nation. A national ceremony takes place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

Veterans

19.3 million

The number of military veterans in the United States in 2014.

Source: 2014 American Community Survey

<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/DP02>

1.6 million

The number of female veterans in the United States in 2014.

Source: 2014 American Community Survey

<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/B21001>

Employment Situation of Veterans

The unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time since September 2001--a group referred to as Gulf War-era II veterans--declined by 1.8 percentage points over the year to 7.2 percent in 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The jobless rate for all veterans, at 5.3 percent, also declined from a year earlier. In addition, 29 percent of Gulf War-era II veterans reported having a service-connected disability in August 2014, compared with 16 percent of all veterans.

More from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Income and Net Worth of Veteran Business Owners over the Business Cycle, 1989–2010

This month, the Office of Advocacy is releasing a new research report, Income and Net Worth of Veteran Business Owners over the Business Cycle, 1989–2010. The report looks at the effects of two decades of economic expansion and recession on the economic fortunes of veterans and veteran small business owners. It finds that veteran small business owners did better than veterans who did not own small businesses during the 20-year-period. The economic extremes of the period 1989-2010—including the end of the longest U.S. economic expansion and the Great Recession—had similar effects on all business owners—veteran and non-veteran alike.

The report and research summary are available on Advocacy’s webpage.

Unemployment rates by educational attainment and veteran status

Unemployment rates by educational attainment, October 2014

In October 2014, the unemployment rate edged down to 5.8 percent. For those 25 years and older with a bachelor's degree or more education, the unemployment rate was 3.1 percent, down from 3.8 percent in October 2013. For those with some college or an associate degree, the unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, down from 6.3 percent the previous year.

Employment and unemployment among all veterans, Gulf-War era II veterans, and nonveterans

In 2013, the employment-population ratio for all veterans was 47.9 percent, compared to 61.4 percent for nonveterans age 18 and over. (The ratio is the number of employed people as a percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population age 18 and older.) Gulf-War era II veterans, who served on active duty anywhere in the world sometime since September 2001, had an employment-population ratio of 73.3 percent in 2013.

Veterans Day 2014: Nov. 11

Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary marking the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars. The day honors military veterans with parades and speeches across the nation. A national ceremony takes place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

Veterans

19.6 million

Number of military veterans in the United States in 2013. Source: 2013 American Community Survey<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/DP02>

1.6 million

Number of female veterans in the United States in 2013. Source: 2013 American Community Survey <http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/B21001>

11.3%

Percent of veterans in 2013 who were black. Additionally, 79.3 percent were non-Hispanic white; 1.4 percent were Asian; 0.7 percent were American Indian or Alaska Native; 0.2 percent were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; 1.2 percent were some other race. (The numbers for blacks, non-Hispanic whites, Asians, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, and some other race cover only those reporting a single race.) Source: 2013 American Community Survey <http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/S2101>

6.0%

Percent of veterans in 2013 who were Hispanic. Source: 2013 American Community Survey<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/S2101>

9.3 million

Number of veterans 65 years and older in 2013. At the other end of the age spectrum, 1.6 million were younger than 35. Source: 2013 American Community Survey <http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_1YR/B21001>

When They Served

Military Members and Veterans - Watch Out for Scams

There are a number of scams currently circulating that target members of the military and veterans, such as fake military charities, identity theft targeting active service members, and veteran pension scams.

In general, all of these scams try to take advantage of military members by offering to provide a service and then taking your money, while you get nothing in return.

You can learn more about specific scams by visiting the Scams Targeting Service Members or Veterans section of StopFraud.gov.

If you've been the victim of a scam, there are a few ways to file a complaint:

File a complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or call them at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or 1-202-326-2222.

File a complaint about Internet-related fraud issues with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

StopFraud.gov offers information about how to report financial fraud.

American Community Survey Brief: Veterans 2011

This brief highlights veterans 18 and older who reside in the United States and focuses on their racial, ethnic and regional diversity. Regional diversity includes foreign-born veterans and their countries of origin in addition to the native-born veteran population. The American Community Survey collects data on veterans in order to help government agencies, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, to establish programs for job counseling, training and placement.

Sample topics covered in the brief include racial and ethnic diversity and birthplace of veterans.

Veterans Day: November 11

From USA.gov:

Veterans Day is an American federal holiday honoring military veterans. It is also a holiday in many countries around the world every November 11, where it is Armistice or Remembrance Day. It marks the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I.

Today Veterans Day honors veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice. Veterans Day is always on November 11, regardless of the day of the week on which it falls.

[However, since it DOES fall on a Sunday, Monday, the 12th of November is considered a federal holiday.]

Facts for Features: Veterans Day from the Census Bureau.

Census Bureau Infographic on U.S. Veteran Population

This month as we celebrate our nation's Independence, we reflect on the original veterans who helped found this country. How do we know about today's heroes? This new infographic provides a statistical snapshot of our veterans from the American Community Survey (conducted annually) and the Survey of Business Owners (from the five-year economic census).

Health and Insurance Status, Health Care Use, and Expenditures for Male Veterans, 2008

In 2008, there were 21.5 million veterans in the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population, of which 20.2 million were men, accounting for 18.1 percent of the adult male population. Based on data from the Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-HC), this Statistical Brief compares the health status, use of health care services, insurance status, and health care expenditures for veterans to that for non-veterans in 2008. Because these measures vary greatly with age and the average age is substantially higher for veterans than non-veterans, estimates are shown separately for elderly (65 and older) and non-elderly (ages 18–64) men.

Searching Your US Military Ancestry With Newly Released Records

by Cara Meadows
Following on from this important article on the release of the 1940 US Census here, Ancestry.com has paved the way for even more in-depth family history research with the release of a set of vitally important War Service Records dating from as far back as 1850. These records are a great and vital resource to anyone wanting to trace the more recent history of their ancestors and also trace the military pasts of their forebears much further back.
With Family History, Genealogy and Military History in particular becoming an increasingly popular hobby for many people, researchers are opting to take genealogical vacations in different countries rather than other pursuits such as going on a Mediterranean Cruise or a long beach vacation somewhere. This rise in popularity has seen a concurrent rise in demand for online services and also increasing access to archives and repositories all over the US.
New Record Releases
The US Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS (Beneficiary Identification Records Locater Subsystem) Death Records contain some 14,465,024 entries starting in the year 1850 and coming as far forward as 2010.

Veteran-Owned Businesses Numbered More Than 2 Million in 2007

In 2007, U.S. military veterans owned 2.4 million businesses, which accounted for 9.0 percent of all businesses nationwide, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. These businesses generated $1.2 trillion in receipts, or about 4.1 percent of all business receipts nationwide, and employed nearly 5.8 million people.

All in all, businesses where veterans were majority owners or half-owners numbered 3.7 million, representing 13.5 percent of all businesses nationwide, accounting for more than $1.6 trillion in receipts and employing 8.2 million people.

The new data come from the Survey of Business Owners (SBO): Veteran-Owned Businesses: 2007, which provides the first-ever detailed information for all veteran-owned businesses in the United States, including number of firms, sales and receipts, number of paid employees and annual payroll. Statistics are also shown for nonveteran-owned businesses, as well as for businesses that are equally owned by both veterans and nonveterans.

Nearly one-third of veteran-owned businesses (32.5 percent) operated in the professional, scientific, and technical services and the construction sectors.

More info HERE.

Veterans Day - Data from the Census Bureau

Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars. The day honors living military veterans with parades and speeches across the nation. A national ceremony takes place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

ACS and ASEC Data on Veteran Status: 2007

Focuses on comparisons of national and state distributions of veteran status and period of military service between the 2007 American Community Survey and the 2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Examines specifically, for instance, how, at the national level, the age distribution of veterans and, at the state level, how the percent of the adult population who are veterans differs between the surveys.

Hispanic Heritage Month, 2007: Sept. 15-Oct. 15, Part 2

Businesses

Source for statements in this section: Hispanic-owned Firms: 2002.

1.6 million
The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in 2002.

Triple
The rate of growth of Hispanic-owned businesses between 1997 and 2002 (31 percent) compared with the national average (10 percent) for all businesses.

$222 billion
Revenue generated by Hispanic-owned businesses in 2002, up 19 percent from 1997.

45%
. . . of all Hispanic-owned firms were owned by Mexicans, Mexican-Americans and Chicanos.

29,168
Number of Hispanic-owned firms with receipts of $1 million or more.

•43 percent of Hispanic-owned firms operated in construction; administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services; and other services, such as personal services, and repair and maintenance. Retail and wholesale trade accounted for 36 percent of Hispanic-owned business revenue.

•States with the fastest rates of growth for Hispanic-owned firms between 1997 and 2002 included New York (57 percent), Georgia and Rhode Island (56 percent each), and Nevada and South Carolina (48 percent each).

•Counties with the highest number of Hispanic-owned firms were Los Angeles County (188,422); Miami-Dade County (163,187); and Harris County, Texas (61,934).

Spanish Language

32.2 million
The number of U.S. household residents 5 and older who speak Spanish at home.
Spanish speakers constitute nearly one in eight U.S. household residents. Among
all those who speak Spanish at home, more than one-half say they speak English very well. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

29%
Percentage of Texas residents who speak Spanish at home, which leads all states. This compares with the national average of 12 percent. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

78%
Percentage of Hispanics 5 and older who speak a language other than English at home. Of that number, about half speak English very well. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance

$35,967
The median income of Hispanic households in 2005, statistically unchanged from the previous year. (Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005.)

21.8%
The poverty rate among Hispanics in 2005, statistically unchanged from 2004. (Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005).

32.7%
The percentage of Hispanics who lacked health insurance in 2005, statistically unchanged from 2004. (Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005).

Education

59%
The percentage of Hispanics 25 and older who had at least a high school education in 2006.

12%
The percentage of the Hispanic population 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2006.

3.1 million
The number of Hispanics 18 and older who had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2006, up from 1.4 million a decade earlier.

839,000
Number of Hispanics 25 and older with advanced degrees in 2006 (e.g., master’s, professional, doctorate).

11%
Percentage of all college students in October 2005 who were Hispanic. Among elementary and high school students combined, the corresponding proportion was 19 percent.
Educational attainment levels are higher among certain Hispanic groups than among others. For example, among Cubans 25 and older, 73 percent were at least high school graduates, and 24 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Jobs

68%
Percentage of Hispanics 16 and older who are in the civilian labor force. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

17%
The percentage of Hispanics 16 or older who work in management, professional and related occupations. Approximately 24 percent of Hispanics 16 or older work in service occupations; 22 percent in sales and office occupations; 2 percent in farming, fishing and forestry occupations; 16 percent in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations; and 19 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

77,700
Number of Hispanic chief executives. In addition, 49,200 physicians and surgeons; 53,700 postsecondary teachers; 29,000 lawyers; and 3,300 news analysts, reporters and correspondents are Hispanic. (Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

Voting

7.6 million
The number of Hispanic citizens who reported voting in the 2004 presidential election. The percentage of Hispanic citizens voting — about 47 percent — did not change statistically from four years earlier. (Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2004.)

Serving our Country

1.1 million
The number of Hispanic veterans of the U.S. armed forces. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

Veteran Entrepreneurs and Their Businesses

Veterans tend to be better educated before starting or acquiring their businesses and older than other business owners, according to new reports released this month by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Characteristics of Veteran-Owned Businesses: 2002 and Characteristics of Veteran Business Owners: 2002 show veteran business owners comprised about 3 million or 14.5 percent of the estimated 20.5 million owners of all firms that responded to the 2002 Survey of Business Owners (SBO).

The first-ever reports examining veterans in business show that prior to establishing, purchasing or acquiring their firms, veteran owners were somewhat better educated compared to other business owners. In 2002, veterans were about as likely to have either bachelor or postgraduate degrees as all owners of respondent business firms (40.7 percent vs. 40.1 percent). But they were more likely to have postgraduate degrees (19.2 percent vs. 17.3 percent) and less likely not to have graduated high school (4.3 percent vs. 6 percent).

Sixty-eight percent of veteran owners were age 55 or over, and 32 percent were 65 or older. By contrast, among all business owners of firms completing the survey, 31 percent were 55 or older.

Otherwise, businesses owned by veterans tended to be virtually identical to all respondent businesses in receipts and employment size of firm. (Figure 1 shows the distribution by receipts size category; Figure 2 by employment size category.) Moreover, the largest percent of shares of veteran-owned and all respondent businesses (totaling about 60 percent of the businesses in each group) were concentrated in the same five business sectors: professional, scientific, and technical services; construction; other services; retail trade; and real estate and rental and leasing. (See Figure 3 on the distribution of firms by kind of business.)

The report can be accessed here.

New York State Veterans

The state Division of Veterans Affairs has data about New York State veterans to the county level, broken down by engagement (Gulf, Vietnam, etc.). The page also provides information about legislation, memorials, and other vet-related items.