Research and analysis

Employment, skills and volunteering, UK armed forces veterans, UK: Veterans’ Survey 2022

Published 23 April 2025

Main points

Of all survey respondents, across the UK, just under half (46.9%) of veterans were employed or self-employed and a similar proportion were retired (46.1%).

Nearly two-thirds of working veterans worked in the private sector (62.0%), just under a third worked in the public sector (29.7%), 5.7% were working in the non-profit or non-governmental sector and the remainder did not provide their job sector.

Just over 1 in 5 working veterans (20.9%) actively looked to change their main job in the last 4 weeks, most commonly because they wanted more pay or benefits, a better work-life balance or professional development.

Across the UK, just over half of veterans (52.5%) had ever taken a job at a lower experience or skill level than their last role in the UK armed forces, most commonly because there were no other jobs available, and employers did not recognise their transferable military skills.

Over 8 in 10 veterans felt they had transferable skills from the UK armed forces (85.4%) or had used skills from the UK armed forces in a civilian role (81.4%), and just over half of veterans (53.5%) had given unpaid help to clubs, groups, charities or organisations over the last 12 months.

Qualitative analysis contained within this article gives further context about what support unemployed veterans and those who had experienced skill-related underemployment, who left the UK armed forces in the 5 years prior to the survey, felt was lacking for them.

About the Veterans’ Survey 2022

These statistics are official statistics in development. They are published as research and are not official statistics.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published initial research on the Veterans’ Survey 2022 in its Veterans’ Survey 2022, demographic overview and coverage analysis article in December 2023. Aggregate analysis of the Veterans’ Survey 2022 provides a broad representation of veterans because the survey responses were weighted by age to reflect the age distribution of veterans as identified by Census 2021. However, there are some biases that the survey weights do not cover. Aggregate analysis will better represent veterans that have ever served as regulars because there was an under-representation of reserve veterans. Veterans with a disability were over-represented. There was a small under-representation of those that identified in all but the high-level White ethnic group. This is shown by coverage analysis of veteran respondents from England and Wales, compared with veterans from Census 2021.

We only refer to a difference throughout this article where we are confident this difference is a statistically significant difference. This is based on the associated 95% confidence intervals found in our accompanying datasets. This article focuses on UK-level data only. Additional UK-level data and an exploration of whether we see the same patterns at country-level, where analysis of this was possible, are found in footnotes in our accompanying datasets.

Caution is necessary in assuming findings are representative of the whole veteran population. The Veterans’ Survey 2022 has been partially weighted to compensate for known biases in age among respondents from England and Wales only. Some biases remain, as outlined in the Veteran’ Survey 2022, demographic overview and coverage analysis, UK: December 2023 article.

We know age has a strong relationship with some employment related factors and many personal demographics are also associated with age, see our Life after service in the UK armed forces: Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK and Preparedness to leave the UK armed forces: Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK articles.

In this article we focus on relationships between a personal characteristic and employment related factors, that we expect to exist regardless of the age profile of veterans with that characteristic.

Economic activity status

Among UK veterans, just under half (48.3%) were economically active (either in employment or unemployed). This is higher than the proportion of veterans who were identified as being economically active in England and Wales Census 2021 (42.4%). The differences may reflect the on-going changing age structure of the veteran population over time, as among UK veterans 46.1% said they were economically inactive and retired, which is slightly lower than the 50.8% of veterans estimated to be retired from Census 2021.  

The data in this publication are not directly comparable with the general population because of the unique age and sex structure of the veteran population as stated in the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Characteristics of UK armed forces veterans, England and Wales: Census 2021 article. Additionally, other labour market statistics, for example the ONS’s Labour Force Survey, include the data of respondents aged 16 years and over and provide data for the working age population, aged 16 to 64 years. In this article, we discuss the economic activity status of veterans aged 18 years and over, in line with survey eligibility criteria.

Census 2021 non-veteran population data were statistically adjusted to enable fair comparisons with the comparatively older and more male veteran population. Findings indicated that veterans and non-veterans had similar economic activity levels. This is outlined in the ONS’s The labour market status of UK armed forces veterans, England and Wales: Census 2021 article.  

Reasons for economic inactivity

Around 1 in 40 veterans (2.5%) were not economically active because they were long-term sick or disabled, a small proportion of veterans were economically inactive because they were looking after family or home (0.5%) and 2.6% were categorised as “other (including studying and unknown)”. These proportions are not dissimilar to estimates of veteran economic activity status from Census 2021.

Survey data for these variables by personal and service-related characteristics can be found in our accompanying dataset.

Veterans that were unemployed

Of all the survey respondents, a small proportion of veterans were unemployed (1.4%), which is comparable with findings reported from Census 2021. These veterans were more likely to be 69 years or under, reflecting the higher levels of retirement among those that were 70 years and over.

Female veterans were more likely to be unemployed than male veterans (2.8% compared with 1.3%). Though there were small proportions of unemployed veterans regardless of disability, disabled veterans were more likely to be unemployed than those who were not disabled (1.7% compared with 1.1%). We know that female veterans are typically younger and therefore more likely to be economically active (employed or unemployed) than male veterans. However, these patterns were not apparent in data about veterans from Census 2021 and it is possible that female veterans and veterans with a disability that were unemployed may have been more engaged with organisations that promoted survey participation.

Veterans that had left the armed forces less than 5 years ago were more likely to be unemployed than veterans that left 5 years ago or more. We do not expect age to fully account for this finding as there was no differences in unemployment among those aged 30 to 69 years. Additionally, the ages of those who left 5 to 9 years ago and those who left less than 5 years ago were similar. It is feasible that on-going transition in those that left more recently may be an explanatory factor. A smaller proportion of veterans who felt prepared to some extent for life after service were unemployed (1.0%) compared with those who felt unprepared to some extent (2.1%).

Figure 1: Veterans that left the UK armed forces less than 5 years ago were more likely to be unemployed than veterans that left 5 years ago or more

Weighted percentages of veterans who were unemployed by number of years since leaving the UK armed forces, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Source: The Veterans’ Survey 2022 from the Office for National Statistics

Notes:

Blank responses to this question were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

Qualitative analysis of veterans that were unemployed and left service within the 5 years prior to the Veterans’ Survey 2022

The Veterans’ Survey 2022 asked an open question: “Can you tell us what service and support would be helpful for you but is currently lacking?”. This question asked for free text, qualitative responses. Details on how the qualitative analysis has been completed can be found in the Data sources and quality section. Content analysis of these responses is unweighted.

We discuss the most prevalent themes in responses from a small number of veterans who were unemployed and had left the armed forces during the 5 years prior to the survey in 2022 (around 1 in 600 respondents). Full descriptions for each theme can be found in the Glossary: qualitative themes section. It is important to note that although these responses relate to veterans that had left the UK armed forces within the 5 years prior to the Veterans’ Survey 2022, policies and support services directed at helping veterans into employment are constantly evolving. 

The theme of careers was referenced by 2 in 5 of these veterans, over a third referenced health in their response and almost 3 in 20 referenced transition to civilian life.

Veterans’ responses within the theme of careers included general references to inadequate career transition support or time to use it, a lack of understanding from civilians when trying to gain employment and short notice periods for those who were medically discharged which limited the time available to utilise career transition support. 

Veterans that were unemployed said there was a lack of career support and understanding from civilians

“How to deal with ageism in the job market with signposts to employers that are forward-leaning, with employment opportunities for veterans who have served a full career.”

“Continued support from CTP and further extended resettlement due to long-term illness.”

“Biggest issue is leaving the military at the end of contract aged 55 and having big difficulties getting employers to recognise what benefit I can give them and what transferable skills I have. Three years since I left and not yet found a full-time job.”

Of the veterans who left the UK armed forces in the 5 years prior to the survey and referred to the theme of health in relation to unemployment, just over 4 in 10 referenced mental health. Other sub-themes included difficulty finding support with health conditions and encountering issues or frustrations with support services which they felt exacerbated their health conditions.

Veterans that said they were unemployed referenced mental health and a lack of support for health conditions

“I’ve tried so many different services offering advice, help, support etc. They all sign me up, contact me to make an appointment to have a meeting to then discuss when I’m free to have a meeting about future meetings and nothing ever happens. I keep getting asked if I’m ok and it doesn’t matter if I’m ok or not because nothing happens. If I say I’m not OK, they just keep asking again and again until I say I’m ok. There certainly is so much help and support for veterans, but it’s just useless. It’s just an excuse to look like something is being done. It genuinely makes me feel embarrassed to be a veteran and I only wish I could go back in time and have nothing to do with the Royal Air Force.”

“Mental health. At the end of my regular service the attitude was thanks your PTSD has miraculously disappeared and you’re now a civvie, goodbye.”

Within the theme of transition, veterans referenced difficulty transferring military skills and qualifications and navigating the employment market.

Veterans that said they were unemployed referenced difficulty transferring military skills and qualifications

“Life is difficult after leaving service and transitioning into civilian life. Job prospects are limited if you don’t have any technical qualifications. Transferable skills sound good and that’s what the Army use but that don’t get you nowhere when it comes to jobs in the civilian sector. Military covenant and ‘Great place to work for veterans’ are just good words, but it doesn’t work. Get some technical quals prior to getting out and start them early if you have to. Resettlement CTP is just a scam. Doing a few weeks course won’t get you a job in the civilian market.”

“Employment. I have readily transferable skills but am not able to identify a particular area of civilian employment to work in.”

Veterans that were employed

All respondents that said they were employed or self-employed were asked “How would you describe the sector for your main job?” and “In your main job, how many hours a week do you usually work?”.

Nearly two-thirds of veterans worked in the private sector (62.0%), under a third worked in the public sector (29.7%), just over 1 in 20 veterans worked in the non-profit or non-governmental sector (5.7%) and the remainder did not provide their job sector.

Across the UK, the majority of veterans worked 31 to 48 hours a week (69.6%). Of the remainder, 6.1% worked 0 to 15 hours, just under 1 in 10 veterans (9.9%) worked 16 to 30 hours and 14.5% of veterans worked 49 hours or more per week.

Our overall findings for economic activity and hours worked are comparable with data from Census 2021 as reported in the ONS’s The labour market status of UK armed forces veterans, England and Wales: Census 2021. Survey data for these variables by personal and service-related characteristics can be found in our accompanying dataset.

All respondents that said they were employed or self-employed were also asked “In the last 4 weeks, were you actively looking to change your main job?”. Just over 1 in 5 (20.9%) veterans were actively looking to change their main job in the last 4 weeks.

Veterans that said they were actively looking to change their main job were then asked, “For what reason(s) have you thought about changing your main job?”. The most common reasons veterans gave were ‘I would like more pay or benefits’, ‘Work-life balance’ and ‘Professional development’.

Work sector and actively looking to change main job by personal demographics and service-related characteristics

This section includes personal demographic and service-related characteristic breakdowns for veterans that were in employment by their main job sector and whether they were actively seeking to change their main job in the last 4 weeks.

Age

Younger veterans were less likely to have said they worked in the non-profit or non-governmental sector compared with older veterans, 3.2% of veterans aged 18 to 29 years worked in the non-profit or non-governmental sector compared with 14.7% of veterans aged 70 to 79 years. The relationship between age and whether a veteran said they worked in the private sector or in the public sector was less strong.

Figure 2: Among UK veterans, those aged 49 years and under were more likely to have actively looked to change their main job in the last 4 weeks than those aged 50 years and over

Weighted percentages of veterans who had actively looked to change their main job in the last 4 weeks by age, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Source: The Veterans’ Survey 2022 from the Office for National Statistics

Notes:

Blank responses to this question were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

‘Age’ refers to the age on the last birthday, rather than exact age.

Responses from veterans aged 80 years and over are included in our accompanying dataset but excluded from this chart due to very small numbers.

Sex

Female veterans were more likely to have worked in the public sector (46.4%) and less likely to have worked in the private sector (40.8%) compared with male veterans (28.3% and 66.8% respectively). Female veterans were much more likely to have worked in the non-profit or non-governmental sector (12.8%) than male veterans (4.9%).

There were no differences in the proportion of veterans that said they actively looked to change their job in the last 4 weeks by sex.

Disability

When we considered health and main job sector, disabled veterans were more likely to have worked in the public sector (32.2%) and less likely to have worked in the private sector (61.4%) compared with non-disabled veterans (29.2% and 65.2% respectively).

Figure 3: Among UK veterans, those that were disabled were more likely to have actively looked to change their main job in the last 4 weeks than those that were not disabled

Weighted percentages of veterans who had actively looked to change their main job in the last 4 weeks by disability, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Source: The Veterans’ Survey 2022 from the Office for National Statistics

Notes:

Blank responses to this question were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

“Prefer not to say” and “Don’t know” responses are presented in data tables but removed from this chart because of high levels of uncertainty.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

We see a similar pattern when we compare veterans that required a personalised care plan with those that did not and veterans that left the UK armed forces because of medical discharge compared with those that did not.

Rank

Those who served at Officer rank were more likely to have worked in the private sector (66.4%) or in the non-profit or non-governmental sector (8.8%) than those who served below Officer rank (62.9% and 5.1% respectively). Veterans who served below Officer rank were more likely to have worked in the public sector than veterans who served at Officer rank (32.0% compared with 24.8%).

Among UK veterans, those who served at Officer rank were less likely to have actively looked to change their main job in the last 4 weeks than those who served below Officer rank (17.8% compared with 21.7%).

Preparedness for life after service in the UK armed forces

Figure 4: Veterans who felt prepared to some extent for life after service were least likely to have actively looked to change their main job in the last 4 weeks

Weighted percentages of veterans who had actively looked to change their main job in the last 4 weeks by preparedness for life after service, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Source: The Veterans’ Survey 2022 from the Office for National Statistics

Notes:

Blank responses to this question were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

“Prefer not to say” are presented in data tables but removed from this chart because of high levels of uncertainty.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

Job level and skills from the UK armed forces

All survey respondents were asked “How often have you taken a job which you feel has a lower experience or skill level than your last role in the armed forces?”. Response options were: “Happened more than once in the past”, “Happened once in the past”, “I have not experienced this so far” or “Not applicable”. Within this article we discuss whether veterans had ever taken a job at a lower experience or skill level or had not. Data by all response option categories and by personal and service-related characteristics are available in our accompanying dataset.

Across the UK, just over half of veterans (52.5%) felt that they had ever taken a job at a lower experience or skill level than their last role in the UK armed forces.

The term “underemployment” can be time-related, referring to working in a job with fewer hours than desired or skills-related, working in a job that does not match a persons’ skills or experience. In this section, the term skills-related underemployment will be used in relation to the latter meaning, in line with the survey question.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developments’ (OECD) Survey of Adult Skills 2023, Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World? found that of adults aged 25 to 65 years in employment in England, 33.8% were over-skilled for their current job. This is a lower proportion than that found for veterans. However, this may be expected as the Veterans’ Survey 2022 asked how often a veteran had experienced taking a job at a lower experience or skill level in the past, which would include periods of this type of underemployment at any time since leaving service, whereas the OECD survey only included those who were currently underemployed. Additionally, we know the veteran population is older and mainly male compared with the general population and therefore caution is required when making direct comparisons between the veteran and general populations.

As reported in the ONS’s Veterans’ Survey 2022, demographic overview and coverage analysis, UK: December 2023 article, there was an over-representation of disabled veterans in our survey which may also account for some of the difference found between the proportion of veterans who had experienced skills-related underemployment and those in the general population.

Job level by personal characteristics

This section includes personal demographic and service-related characteristic breakdowns for veterans that had experienced taking a job at a lower experience or skill level than their last role in the UK armed forces.

Figure 5: Among UK veterans, those aged 30 to 59 years were most likely to have said they had taken a job at a lower experience or skill level than their last role in the UK armed forces

Weighted percentages of veterans who had taken a job at a lower experience or skill level than their last role in the UK armed forces by age, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Source: The Veterans’ Survey 2022 from the Office for National Statistics

Notes:

Blank responses to this question were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

‘Age’ refers to the age on the last birthday, rather than exact age.

Financial factors were strongly associated with skills-related underemployment: veterans whose income was £20,799 a year or less were more likely to have felt they had experienced skills-related underemployment (59.4%) than those with an income of £51,950 a year or more (44.7%). Veterans who agreed to some extent with the statement “In the last month, I have had money worries” were much more likely to have felt they had experienced skills-related underemployment than those who disagreed to some extent (66.3% compared with 43.9%).

We know skills-related underemployment can be linked to income and that within both the veteran and non-veteran populations, income gaps exist between people within certain personal characteristics.

For example, we know there is an income gap by sexual orientation in favour of those who identify as “Straight or heterosexual” and that those with a disability typically have a lower income than those without a disability, as reported in our Finance and housing, UK armed forces veterans: Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK article. As underemployment and income are associated, we see, as expected, a relationship between sexual orientation and skills-related underemployment. Veterans who identified as “LGB+” were more likely to have felt they had experienced skills-related underemployment in the past than those who identified as “Straight or heterosexual” (63.0% compared with 52.6%).

Veterans who were disabled were also more likely to have felt they had experienced skills-related underemployment (56.5%) than veterans who were not disabled (47.8%).

Job level by employment factors

UK veterans who were economically active were more likely to have felt they had experienced skills-related underemployment in the past (61.4%) than those who were economically inactive (44.1%). Similarly, veterans who were actively looking to change their main job in the last 4 weeks, were more likely to have said they had experienced skills-related underemployment than those who were not (72.3% compared with 58.6%). A higher proportion of veterans who worked in the public sector felt they had experienced skills-related underemployment than those who worked in the private sector (65.0% compared with 59.9%).

Job level by service-related characteristics

Veterans who served at Officer rank were less likely to have felt they had experienced skill-related underemployment than those who had served below Officer rank (42.4% compared with 56.1%).

Differences were found between service branches, with a lower proportion of veterans who served in the Royal Air Force saying they had experienced skills-related underemployment (48.0%) than those who served in the British Army (54.0%) or in the Royal Navy (52.8%).

UK veterans who felt prepared to some extent for life after service were also much less likely to have felt they had experienced skills-related underemployment in the past than those who felt unprepared to some extent (39.3% compared with 68.5%).

Reasons for taking a job at a lower experience or skill level

Figure 6: The 2 most cited reasons for why a veteran had taken a job at a lower experience or skill level were “There were no other jobs available” followed by “The employer did not recognise the transferable military skills”

Weighted percentages of veterans’ reasons why they had taken a job at a lower experience or skill level than their last role in the UK armed forces, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Source: The Veterans’ Survey 2022 from the Office for National Statistics

Notes:

Blank responses to this question were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

Respondents could select multiple responses to the question “Why did you take a job which you felt was at a lower experience or skill level?”.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

The 2 most cited reasons for having taken a job at a lower experience or skill level were typically the same as those seen overall when we considered veterans by personal and service-related characteristics, although some small differences were found within characteristics, which are stated in our accompanying dataset.

Qualitative analysis of veterans that had experienced skill-related underemployment and left service within the 5 years prior to the Veterans’ Survey 2022

The analysis in this section considers veterans that responded to the qualitative question “Can you tell us what services and support would have been helpful for you but is currently lacking?” and who left the armed forces during the 5 years prior to the survey in 2022 and said that they had ever experienced skills-related underemployment (around 1 in 60 respondents). We have identified main themes that these veterans discussed in relation to having taken a job at a lower experience or skill level: health was referenced by nearly a third, just over 2 in 10 mentioned careers and around 1 in 10 referred to transitioning to civilian life. Content analysis of these responses is unweighted.  

It is important to note that although these responses relate to veterans that had left the UK armed forces in the 5 years prior to the Veterans’ Survey 2022, policies and support services directed at helping veterans into employment are constantly evolving. For example, the new Career Transition Partnership (CTP) was launched in October 2024. Consequently, comments referencing CTP will have been made in relation to the previous resettlement programme.  Additionally, the breadth and scope of support available through the new service, Op ASCEND, was expanded in March 2025, providing enhanced career support for veterans and employers. 

The theme of health included general references to health conditions, how health impacted a veterans’ ability to find employment and concerns of employers stereotyping military culture and veterans’ mental health.

Veterans that had taken a job at a lower experience level said how health impacted their ability to find employment

“CTP isn’t helpful for medically discharged personnel, become just a number and no support or help is satisfactory.”

“All services need to properly inform service leavers that no one cares about what you may have done in the past or how good you were at military skills. You will be leaving at the top of the tree and starting the climb from the bottom in your new role. Only this climb will be with a broken burnt-out body, that the NHS cannot give you an appointment to get help with.”

“Help for retraining if you want or need to transfer to a new career. Personally, I can no longer work in medicine due to PTSD and now need to move into another career but the course I need to do is around £7,700.”

Veterans’ comments within the theme of careers included sub-themes of transferring military skills and qualifications, awareness of civilian job roles, difficulties starting a second career and location.

Veterans that had taken a job at a lower experience level referenced how transferring military skills and qualifications would have been beneficial

“I have really struggled to identify and translate my skills and worth into civilian employment. It has been hard to find a career coach who understands both the military and civilian employment sectors well enough to act as a ‘translator’.”

“Access to conversion courses so employers recognise transferable skills and military qualifications.”

“It’s been difficult finding any information about moving into the Charitable sector and what level I could join at and so, because of that, I’ve felt like I had to join from the bottom thus taking a significant pay cut, which I don’t mind but would have preferred not to have.”

Within the theme of transition, mentioned by just over 1 in 10 of the veterans included in this qualitative analysis, veterans referred to the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) programme, a focus on traditionally male career paths, job security, preparation for civilian employment, including limited preparation for rejection and issues during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Veterans that had taken a job at a lower experience level referred to their experiences with the Career Transition Partnership programme

“Ability to access high quality training and (particularly) hard qualifications in highly skilled fields (e.g. coding, web design). Career Transition services were generally woolly, the courses available targeted at relatively basic qualifications.”

“Specific support for women. Things are very biased towards men - male dominated careers and male dominated issues etc. It would be good to have something (safe space) specifically for women.”

“Better understanding of what industry wants from ex-military. Resettlement should last your whole career and not just the last two years.”

The survey question asked respondents what support they felt was currently lacking but there was no question on the survey asking veterans what they felt worked well with regards to transitioning to civilian life. The Career Transition Partnership (CTP) publish annual statistics on the employment outcomes of ex-service personnel who used CTP services.   

Analysis of veterans’ awareness and use of and satisfaction with CTP and other employment support services by personal and service-related characteristics can be found in our accompanying datasets.

Transferable skills from the UK armed forces

All survey respondents were asked “Do you feel you have transferable skills which you could use or have used outside of the armed forces?” and “Have you made use of any of your skills from the armed forces in any civilian roles?”. Over 8 in 10 veterans felt they had transferable skills from the UK armed forces (85.4%) or had used skills from the UK armed forces in a civilian role (81.4%).

Whether a veteran felt they had transferable skills was similar by personal and service-related characteristics as our findings for whether a veteran had used skills from the UK armed forces in a civilian role. For this reason, this analysis focuses on whether a veteran had used skills. All findings relating to whether a veteran felt they had transferable skills by personal and service-related characteristics can be found in our accompanying dataset.

Skills and personal characteristics

Just over 6 in 10 (63.5%) veterans aged 18 to 29 years had used skills from the UK armed forces in a civilian role and were less likely than veterans in all other age groups to have used skills from the UK armed forces. When we considered health, we found that veterans who were disabled were less likely to have used skills from the UK armed forces in a civilian role than those who were not disabled (79.3% compared with 84.3%). Similarly, veterans who required a personalised care plan were less likely to have used skills from the UK armed forces (75.3%) than those who did not require a personalised care plan (83.6%).

Figure 7: Veterans whose income was £20,799 a year or less, were less likely to have used skills from the UK armed forces in a civilian role than those whose income was £51,950 a year or more 

Weighted percentages of veterans who had used skills from the UK armed forces in a civilian role by income, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Source: The Veterans’ Survey 2022 from the Office for National Statistics

Notes:

Blank responses to this question were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

Veterans who disagreed to some extent with the statement ‘In the last month, I have had money worries’ were more likely to have used skills from the UK armed forces in a civilian role than veterans who agreed to some extent with the statement (84.5% compared with 77.6%).

Veterans who were actively looking to change their main job in the last 4 weeks were less likely to have used skills from the UK armed forces in a civilian role than those who were not looking to change their main job (76.9% compared with 86.6%).

Skills and service-related characteristics

UK armed forces veterans that served at Officer rank were more likely to have used skills from the armed forces in a civilian role (88.9%) than those who served below Officer rank (79.4%). The use of skills from the armed forces in a civilian role had a linear relationship with length of service. Veterans who served for less than 4 years were the least likely to have used skills (61.6%) and those who had served for 13 to 24 years or 25 years or more were most likely to have used skills in a civilian role (86.2% and 86.7% respectively).

Among UK veterans, those who felt prepared to some extent for life after service were more likely to have used skills from the armed forces in a civilian role than veterans who felt unprepared to some extent (86.7% compared with 74.9%).

Volunteering

Just over half of veterans (53.5%) had given unpaid help to clubs, groups, charities or organisations over the last 12 months. This is higher than the proportion estimated in data for the general population for 11 to 22 January 2023 who had given unpaid help over the last 12 months (37.2%) from the Office for National Statistics’s (ONS’s) Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN). The veteran population is different to the general population in terms of age and sex and direct comparisons do not take these factors into account.

Although the majority of veterans said they had given unpaid help over the last 12 months, those that had not were asked “For what reason(s) have you not given unpaid help to groups, clubs or organisations over the last 12 months?”.

Figure 8:  The top 3 reasons for a veteran not having given unpaid help were “I have work commitments”, “I do other things with my spare time” and “I have an illness or disability I feel prevents me from getting involved”

Weighted percentages of reason(s) a veteran had not given unpaid help to groups, clubs or organisations over the last 12 months, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Source: The Veterans’ Survey 2022 from the Office for National Statistics

Notes:

Blank responses to this question were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

Respondents could select multiple responses to the question “For what reason(s) have you not given unpaid help to groups, clubs or organisations over the last 12 months?”.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

The most common reasons why a veteran had not given unpaid help were “I have work commitments” or “I do other things with my spare time”. A similar finding for the general population in England was reported in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS’s) Community Life Survey 2023/24: Volunteering and charitable giving report.

Among UK veterans, just over 1 in 5 (21.5%) gave “I have an illness or disability that I feel prevents me from getting involved” as a reason for not having given unpaid help. When we considered health, the proportion of disabled veterans and non-disabled veterans that had given unpaid help over the last 12 months were similar (52.4% and 54.8% respectively). Although as explored in the National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (NCVO’s) Time Well Spent 2023 national survey on the volunteer experience, disability can be a barrier to volunteering.

Among UK veterans, those that agreed to some extent with the statement: “I feel like I belong to my local community” were more likely to have given unpaid help over the last 12 months compared with those who disagreed to some extent (62.8% compared with 44.2%), suggesting an association between volunteering and a sense of community belonging.

Data for whether a veteran had given unpaid help to clubs, groups, charities or organisations over the last 12 months and reason(s) for not having given unpaid help by personal and service characteristics are available in our accompanying dataset.

Future publications

Further findings from the Veterans’ Survey 2022 will be published throughout 2025.

Data about the employment, skills and volunteering of UK armed forces veterans

Employment, skills and volunteering for UK armed forces veterans: employment, work sector and hours worked
Dataset | Released on 23 April 2025

UK armed forces veterans’ employment, work sector and hours worked by personal and service-related characteristics, weighted estimates, from the Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Employment, skills and volunteering for UK armed forces veterans: transferable skills and job level
Dataset | Released on 23 April 2025

UK armed forces veterans’ transferable skills and job level by personal and service-related characteristics, weighted estimates, from the Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Employment, skills and volunteering for UK armed forces veterans: volunteering
Dataset | Released on 23 April 2025

UK armed forces veterans’ volunteering by personal and service-related characteristics, weighted estimates, from the Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Employment, skills and volunteering for UK armed forces veterans: employment support services
Dataset | Released on 23 April 2025

Awareness of, use of and satisfaction with employment support services among UK armed forces veterans by personal and service-related characteristics, weighted estimates, from the Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Employment, skills and volunteering for UK armed forces veterans: Career Transition Partnership (CTP)
Dataset | Released on 23 April 2025

Awareness of, use of and satisfaction with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) among UK armed forces veterans by personal and service-related characteristics, weighted estimates, from the Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

Glossary

Confidence intervals

Veterans’ Survey 2022 estimates are presented in our data with 95% confidence intervals. At the 95% confidence level, over many repeats of a survey under the same conditions, one would expect that the confidence interval would contain the true population value 95 times out of 100. Confidence intervals presented are based on complex standard errors (CSEs) around estimates. These reflect the design effects calculated for England and Wales Veterans’ Survey 2022 data, as outlined in the Office for National Statistics’s (ONS’s) Veterans’ Survey methodology.

Disability

People who assessed their day-to-day activities as limited by long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses are considered disabled. This definition of a disabled person meets the harmonised standard for measuring disability and is in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Economic activity status last week

Veterans aged 18 years and over were classified as ‘working’ if they were economically active and in employment in the previous 7 days.

‘Economically active’ refers to people who said they were in employment (an employee or self-employed) or unemployed.

‘Unemployed’ refers to people who said they were out of work during the same period but were either looking for work in the last 4 weeks, and could start within 2 weeks, or were waiting to start a job that had been offered and accepted.

‘Economically inactive’ refers to veterans aged 18 years and over who did not have a job in the previous 7 days, and who had not looked for work in the previous 4 weeks or could not start work within 2 weeks.

LGB+

An abbreviation used to refer to people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other minority sexual orientations (for example, asexual).

Personalised care plan

The personalised care plan question asked of all respondents was: “Do you have complex and long-term healthcare needs that require a personalised care plan to support your health and wellbeing?”.

Respondents were informed that personalised care planning is essentially about addressing an individual’s full range of healthcare needs, treating the person ‘as a whole’, with a strong focus on helping people, together with their carers to achieve the outcomes they want for themselves.

Rank

A veteran-specific derived variable was created for rank. This derived variable was designed to differentiate between commissioned officer and non-officer ranks. The ONS worked with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) to group the list of ranks for each service type into these categories. There were a small number of responses that could not be coded appropriately, and these are excluded from our analysis for this publication.

Reason for leaving

All respondents were asked: “For what reason did you leave the UK armed forces?”. Response options were: “By choice”, “End of contract or retirement”, “Made redundant”, “Medical discharge”, “Compulsory discharge” or “Prefer not to say”.

Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation is a term covering sexual identity, attraction, and behaviour. For an individual respondent, these may not be the same. For example, someone in an opposite-sex relationship may also experience same-sex attraction, and vice versa. This means the statistics should be interpreted purely as showing how people responded to the question, rather than being about who they are attracted to or their actual relationships.

We have not provided glossary entries for individual sexual orientation categories. This is because individual respondents may have differing perspectives on the exact meaning.

Underemployment

Underemployment is a term used to describe workers who are employed in roles below their potential or preference in terms of hours spent in work. Time-related underemployment refers to individuals who work fewer hours than they desire. Skills-related underemployment refers to individuals who have skills that are greater than those required in their current job.

UK armed forces veteran

This analysis defines veterans as people aged 18 years and over who have previously served in the UK armed forces. This includes those who have served for at least one day in the UK armed forces, either regular or reserves, or merchant mariners who have seen duty on legally defined military operations. The Veterans’ Survey 2022 only includes veterans aged 18 years and over because of the nature of the active combat and wellbeing questions.

It does not include those who have left and since re-entered the regular or reserve UK armed forces, those who have only served in foreign armed forces, or those who have served in the UK armed forces and are currently living outside of the UK.

Glossary: qualitative themes

Careers

Veterans said that they did not find the support they had received to be sufficient. This was sometimes because of timeliness. Veterans said they did not have the opportunity to engage fully with the support before leaving or they said the support should be for a longer period post-transition, with some saying the support should be continuous. This theme also included references in relation to the quality of the career transition support veterans felt they received. Some veterans felt they were pigeonholed into certain types of careers, based on preconceptions about their likely skill sets.

There were also many suggestions of what veterans felt would help more. Some examples include:

• better links with veteran-friendly employers
• better communication by the government with employers to dispel preconceptions of veterans that they felt could sometimes hinder them
• mentors with a military background that have built successful careers following their transition
• workshops and careers fairs with veteran-friendly employers
• job placements before leaving
• ongoing, time-unlimited veteran careers networks

Networking, interviewing and CV-writing skills were also referred to.

Health all

This was a broad, high-level category that covered many aspects of support for veteran health. There were specific references to different elements of health, and we identified several sub-themes. Among those who talked about inadequate health services, many spoke about mental health services in particular. They also spoke about issues with the NHS, specifically issues with transitioning to civilian medical care. Many veterans mentioned issues with dentist services. Other sub-themes within the theme of health included statements about a lack of health services available in relation to support for injuries or wellness issues that veterans felt had been a direct result of their service. Some specifically mentioned needing support for hearing loss, disability, the War Pension Scheme, and of a need for continuity of care through better access to service medical records.

Mental health

Mental health was also often linked in comments about the NHS with many veterans saying the support available on the NHS and waiting times, combined with a lack of understanding by NHS professionals about military experiences and operations, made treatment of conditions such as Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder less effective. 

Transition general

This theme came up in relation to more general elements of transition. Veterans tended to speak in more general terms about finding the transition to civilian culture difficult. This points to the need for more support or coaching in relation to some of the less tangible elements of transition, such as understanding civilian mindset and speech, language, and support with more generally ‘fitting in’.

Data sources and quality

Data

Veterans in this research have been identified using the Veterans’ Survey 2022. For more information, see our Veterans’ Survey methodology.

Quality

Weighting for England and Wales Veterans’ Survey, 2022

The age profile of veterans responding to the survey differed from the age profile of veterans identified in Census 2021. Survey respondents were younger than veterans from Census 2021. This may reflect the fact the survey was mainly online, or that marketing and promotion of the survey was more likely to reach younger veterans.

We used raking techniques to generate weights for England and Wales survey responses. This was based on the proportions of veterans we would expect to be within given age bands when we considered the age range of veterans from Census 2021. You can read more about this in our Veterans’ Survey methodology.

Northern Ireland and Scotland, Veterans’ Survey 2022

There were no reliable veteran population data available for Northern Ireland or Scotland that we could use to assess the representativeness of responses to the Veterans’ Survey from people that lived in these countries. Veteran population data from the Scotland Census 2022 were not available at the time the survey data were processed and weighted.

Responses from Northern Ireland and Scotland remain unweighted. This principle was maintained, even when a respondent gave a postcode that suggested they had an alternative address in England or Wales. However, assumptions are made about bias in respondent profiles from Northern Ireland or Scotland. This is based on biases we identified in the survey respondents’ profiles from England and Wales, compared with data from Census 2021. This gives us a strong understanding of the veteran population in England and Wales.

We have also assumed additional uncertainty because of the sample design based on England and Wales data. We have included a design effect in the origin of complex standard errors for UK-level Veterans’ Survey 2022 data. You can read more about this in our Veterans’ Survey methodology.

Bias in sample profile, Veterans’ Survey 2022

Despite weighting the data to compensate for known biases in the Veterans’ Survey 2022, some biases remain, as outlined in our Veterans’ Survey 2022, demographic overview and coverage analysis article. Awareness of these biases can be used to help interpretation of results and to guide future analysis.

Statistical disclosure control

To ensure statistical disclosure conditions are met in our UK analysis, we do not publish estimates for data based on fewer than 3 respondents.

We have not published country-level data for the Veterans’ Survey 2022. Instead, we have described the general patterns found in our analysis in our accompanying datasets. This is to avoid the feasibility of calculating (from overall response figures or from future planned analysis) respective counts of respondents within a given category, who stated they lived in Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland. There are a smaller number of respondents in these countries.

Qualitative analysis

Veterans were asked a more generic question about services and support: “Can you tell us what service and support would have been helpful for you that is currently lacking?”. This question asked for free text, qualitative responses. Respondents could have responded in relation to their needs at any stage of life.  

To report on the themes in an interest group, we took all the veteran responses and removed blank responses to the question and responses that stated the respondent did not have an answer or did not know. The remaining veteran responses were then filtered to the interest group and the most prevalent themes within this interest group were discussed. Each response could be classified to multiple themes, where applicable. Content analysis of these responses is unweighted.

Related links

Finance and housing of UK armed forces veterans
Article | Released 10 January 2025

This report provides analysis of responses to the Veterans’ Survey 2022, with focus on:

• income and money worries
• veterans that were homeless, rough sleeping, living in a refuge for domestic abuse and living long-term with family or friends

Estimates of veteran responses are provided by personal and service-related characteristics. All UK estimates are weighted percentages. Qualitative analysis contained in this report is unweighted.

Health and wellbeing of UK armed forces veterans
Article | Released 4 December 2024

This report provides analysis of responses to the Veterans’ Survey 2022, with focus on:

• health
• wellbeing
• GP and dentist registrations

Estimates of veteran responses are provided by personal and service-related characteristics. All UK estimates are weighted. Qualitative analysis contained in this report is unweighted.

Preparedness to leave the UK armed forces
Article | Released 22 August 2024

This report provides analysis of responses to the Veterans’ Survey 2022, with a focus on:

• preparedness to leave the UK armed forces
• types of information, advice or guidance that would have improved transition

Estimates of veteran responses are provided by personal and service-related characteristics. All UK estimates are weighted. Qualitative analysis contained in this report is unweighted.

Life after service in the UK armed forces
Article | Released 9 August 2024

This report provides analysis of responses to the Veterans’ Survey 2022, with a focus on:

• where veterans accessed information about veteran-related issues, services or benefits
• use of veteran or service charities
• awareness, use and satisfaction of Veterans UK and Veterans’ Gateway
• community engagement

Estimates of veteran responses are provided by personal and service-related characteristics. All UK estimates are weighted.

The Veterans’ Survey 2022, demographic overview and coverage analysis, UK  Article | Released 15 December 2023

Coverage and sample bias analysis of the Veterans’ Survey 2022, with weighted estimates for veteran responses in the UK by personal characteristics. 

Veterans’ Survey 2022 to Census 2021 linkage report 
Methodology | Released 15 December 2023 

Quality of the linkage between Census 2021 and the Veterans’ Survey 2022 and main findings. 

Veterans’ Survey methodology 
Methodology | Released 15 December 2023 

Overview of the development, processing, data cleaning and weighting of the Veterans’ Survey 2022. 

Harmonised standard for previous UK armed forces service 
Methodology | Released 16 March 2022 

Detail on how the measurement of previous UK armed forces service has been made more comparable, consistent, and coherent.