Research and analysis

Finance and housing, UK armed forces veterans: Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK

Published 10 January 2025

Main points

Among UK veterans who provided their gross personal income, 5.8% said their income was less than £10,400 a year, 43.6% said their income was between £10,400 and £31,099 a year, 29.7% said their income was between £31,100 and £51,949 a year, 16.3% said their income was between £51,950 and £99,999, and the remaining 4.6% said their income was £100,000 a year or more.

The survey attracted a higher proportion of veterans with a disability than we would expect of the veteran population, based on estimates from Census 2021; disability has a known relationship with income, and when we consider those who were disabled, 7.9% said their income was £10,400 a year or less, compared with 3.7% of veterans that were not disabled.

Just over half (50.1%) of veterans disagreed to some extent and nearly a third (30.5%) agreed to some extent with the statement “In the last month I have had money worries”. This aligns with comparable data sources that have reported on anxiety or worry around finances among UK adults.

Around 1 in 400 (0.3%) veterans said they were homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse, and 9 in 400 (2.3%) said they lived long-term with family or friends.

Just over 1 in 10 (10.8%) veterans that were homeless or rough sleeping said they had received government support, such as from Veterans UK or local councils; just over 1 in 20 (5.7%) veterans that were homeless or rough sleeping said they had received support from charities, such as Citizens Advice, Shelter or SPACES, to help with housing.

Qualitative responses from veterans that had been homeless or rough sleeping in this article give more depth and context to how veterans feel they could have been better supported.

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 will better represent veterans that have ever served as regulars because there was an under-representation of reserve veterans. This is shown by coverage analysis of veteran respondents from England and Wales, compared with veterans from Census 2021. 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. There was also an under-representation of veterans aged 75 years and over, which we have mitigated by weighting by age.

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.

We have published themed analysis of the Veterans’ Survey throughout 2024, as outlined in Related links.

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 Veterans’ Survey 2022, demographic overview and coverage analysis, UK: December 2023 article.

Finance: income and money worries

Among UK veterans, 10.3% preferred not to say what their gross income was and 1.8% did not know their income. Among those that gave an income band, 5.8% said their income was less than £10,400 a year. We know the Veterans’ Survey sample over-represented disabled veterans, compared with estimates of the actual veteran population from Census 2021 (48.5 % compared with 32.1%). This is described in the Office for National Statistics’s (ONS’s) Veterans’ Survey 2022, demographic overview and coverage analysis, UK: December 2023 article.

Disability also has a known relationship with income. Those with a disability typically have a lower income than those without a disability, for example, as reported in the ONS’s Disability pay gaps in the UK: 2014 to 2023 article. We would not expect aggregate income estimates from the survey to be reflective of the true veteran population. However, when we consider those who were disabled among UK veterans, 7.9% said their income was £10,400 a year or less, compared with 3.7% of veterans that were not disabled.

Figure 1: Almost 6% of veterans said their income was £10,400 a year or less

Weighted percentages of veteran responses by income, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK

Source: 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” are removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

Around a quarter of veterans said their income was less than £20,799 a year and almost half said their income was £31,099 a year or less. Just under a third of veterans (29.7%) said their income was between £31,100 and £51,949 a year, 16.3% said their income was between £51,950 and £99,999, and the remaining 4.6% said their income was £100,000 or more a year.

When we consider income by personal characteristics and service-related factors, we have combined income categories in our accompanying dataset in a way that allows for robust analysis at the multivariate level.

Data about personal income for the veteran and general population are not comparable. This is because veterans are typically older and more likely male than the general population, as shown in the ONS’s Characteristics of UK armed forces veterans, England and Wales: Census 2021 article.

Both age and gender are related to personal income. Males have higher average incomes than females and income typically increases with age up to age 50 years, as outlined in HM Revenue and Customs Personal Incomes Statistics 2020 to 2021: Commentary. Income data for the general UK population comes from the Survey of Personal Incomes, which only includes those who could be liable for UK Income Tax and covers income that can be assessed for tax for each tax year. Income Tax is typically paid when income reaches a threshold of £12,570 per annum. Some statistics in development that consider adult personal incomes regardless of tax liability are available for England and Wales only for the financial year ending 2018 in the ONS’s Admin-based income statistics article. It should be noted these data are for a time period over 4 years earlier. Findings suggest a much higher proportion of the general population earned £10,400 a year or less, compared with the veteran population and the 50th percentile for income was lower for the general population than what we see in the Veterans’ Survey data.

All respondents that said they were completing the survey on their own behalf were asked: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement: “In the last month I have had money worries”.

Figure 2: The majority of veterans disagreed to some extent that they had money worries in the last month

Weighted percentages of veteran responses by level of agreement they had experienced money worries in the last month, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

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

Notes:

Only veterans completing the survey on their own behalf (without assistance) were asked if in the last month, they have had money worries.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

Around 3 in 10 UK veterans agreed to some extent that they had money worries in the past month (11.8% strongly agreed and 18.7% agreed). It is important to note the Veterans’ Survey data collection took place during the cost of living crisis and this finding aligns with available research based on the general UK population. For example, more than one-third (34.0%) of UK adults had felt anxious about their personal financial situation in the past month, according to the Mental Health Foundation’s (MHF’s) article on Stress, anxiety and hopelessness over personal finances widespread across UK. These findings are based on data from a poll of 5,000 UK adults, carried out by Opinium on behalf of MHF in November 2022.

Figure 3: Agreement to some extent that a veteran had money worries in the last month was strongly associated with age and disability status

Weighted percentages of veterans that agreed to some extent they had experienced money worries in the last month by age and disability, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

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

Notes:

Only veterans completing the survey on their own behalf (without assistance) were asked if in the last month, they have had money worries.

This chart shows two separate variables, age and disability under the Equality Act 2010, which are derived from different questions.

“Age” refers to the age on the last birthday, rather than exact age.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

Age had a strong linear relationship with how much UK veterans agreed that they had money worries in the last month. Those aged 80 years and over were least likely to agree to some extent and those aged 39 years or under were most likely to agree to some extent that they had money worries in the past month. There is evidence this relationship with age and financial well-being is also true of the general UK adult population, as detailed in the Money and Pensions Service’s Protected Characteristics and Financial Wellbeing An overview from the Financial Wellbeing Survey 2021 publication. We know the veteran population is older than the general population, so we would expect a lower proportion of veterans to agree that they had money worries than in the general population. However, we also have an over-representation in the sample of veterans with a disability. Among UK veterans, those that were disabled were more likely to have agreed to some extent that they had money worries in the past month, compared with those that were not disabled (35.7% compared with 24.5%).

We see similar patterns when we consider other health-related variables, such as requirements for a personalised care plan and whether a veteran left the UK armed forces because of medical discharge, compared with those that left for other reasons. For more information, see our accompanying dataset. For example, veterans that left the UK armed forces because of medical discharge were more likely to agree to some extent that they had money worries in the last month than those that left for any other reason, excluding those that preferred not to say why they left the UK armed forces.

We know responses to questions about money worries had a strong relationship with age. 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. Therefore, in this article, we focus on relationships between a personal characteristic or service-related factor and level of agreement that veterans had money worries in the last month that we expect to exist regardless of the age profile of veterans with that characteristic. This is based on additional age analysis detailed in our accompanying datasets.

Income did not have the same association with age as that seen for whether a veteran agreed to some extent they had money worries in the last month. The lowest income group we considered had high proportions of both the youngest (18 to 39 years old) and oldest (80 years and over) veterans within it. This is similar to the pattern for the general population reported through the Survey of Personal Incomes. Our accompanying dataset provides information for veteran responses to income and money worries by a broader range of personal demographics and service-related factors.

Income and money worries by other personal characteristics and service-related factors

Sex

Finance data for the general population suggests women overall earn less than men and have lower financial well-being than men, as described in the Office for National Statistics’s (ONS’s) Gender pay gap in the UK: 2024 bulletin and in the Money and Pension Service’s (MPS’s) Protected Characteristics and Financial Wellbeing An overview from the Financial Wellbeing Survey 2021 publication. This was reflected in our findings among UK veterans.

Figure 4: Female veterans were more likely to earn £20,799 a year or less and less likely to earn £51,950 a year or more than male veterans, and were more likely to say they had money worries in the last month than male veterans

Weighted percentages of veteran responses about income and money worries in the last month by sex, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

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

Notes:

Blank responses and “Prefer not to say” responses were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

Only veterans completing the survey on their own behalf (without assistance) were asked if in the last month, they have had money worries.

Personal Independence Payments and Adult Disability Payments are not means tested.

The income and extent of agreement with the statement “In the last month, I have had money worries” data are derived from different questions.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

Sexual orientation

Evidence suggests that UK adults that identify as ‘LGB+ ’ tend to earn less and have lower financial well-being than those that identify as ‘straight or heterosexual’. This is detailed in the Pensions Regulator’s Diversity Pay Gap Report, 2023 and in MPS’s Protected Characteristics and Financial Wellbeing An overview from the Financial Wellbeing Survey 2021 publication.

There were similar findings among UK veterans. Those veterans that identified as straight or heterosexual were less likely than those that identified as LGB+ to have said their income was £20,799 a year or below. Those UK veterans that identified as straight or heterosexual were less likely than those that identified as LGB+ to have agreed to some extent that they had money worries in the past month.

Income by money worries

UK veterans that agreed to some extent they had money worries in the last month were much more likely to say their income was £20,799 a year or less and less likely to say their income was £51,950 a year or more, than those who disagreed to some extent.

Figure 5: Veterans that said their income was £20,799 a year or less were most likely to agree to some extent that they had money worries in the last month

Weighted percentages of veteran responses about income by level of agreement they had experienced money worries in the past month, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

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

Notes:

Only veterans completing the survey on their own behalf (without assistance) were asked if in the last month, they have had money worries.

Only veterans completing the survey on their own behalf (without assistance) were asked what their total personal income was over the last 12 months.

Because of small numbers or large confidence intervals, income was grouped into four categories to allow meaningful analysis of income by personal characteristics.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

Types of loans and credit received since leaving service

UK veterans whose income was £51,950 a year or more were more likely to have received a mortgage since leaving service than those whose income was £51,949 or less. There were minimal differences in proportions receiving personal loans, credit cards and other types of loans by income.

UK veterans that said they agreed to some extent that they had money worries in the last month were much more likely to have received a personal loan (67.2% compared with 50.0%), credit card (77.9% compared with 70.1%) or other type of loan (14.3% compared with 8.7%) since leaving service than those that disagreed to some extent; they were less likely to have received a mortgage (68.5% compared with 81.5%).

Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment or Adult Disability Payments

As expected, UK veterans whose income was £20,799 a year or less were more likely than veterans with a higher income to have claimed Universal Credit, a Personal Independence Payment or an Adult Disability Payment in the last month. Those whose income was between £20,800 and £41,499 were also more likely to have claimed Universal Credit, a Personal Independence Payment or an Adult Disability Payment in the last month than those earning £41,500 or more.

Figure 6: Almost 60 percent of veterans that had claimed Universal Credit, a Personal Independence Payment or Adult Disability Payment said they agreed to some extent that they had money worries in the last month

Weighted percentages of veteran responses about level of agreement they had experienced money worries in the past month by whether they had claimed Universal Credit, a Personal Independence Payment or Adult Disability Payment, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

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

Notes:

Blank responses and “Prefer not to say” responses were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

Only veterans completing the survey on their own behalf (without assistance) were asked if in the last month, they have had money worries.

Personal Independence Payments and Adult Disability Payments are not means tested.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

Data for types of loans and whether a veteran was in receipt of Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment or Adult Disability Payments by personal and service characteristics are available in our accompanying dataset. The footnotes also provide an outline of patterns seen in data for each of the four nations.

Rank

UK veterans that served at Officer rank were less likely to have said their income was £20,799 a year or less, or £28,800 to £41,499 a year, than those that served below Officer rank. Conversely, those that served at Officer rank were more likely to have said their income was £41,500 a year or more than those that served below Officer rank.

Those that served at Officer rank were less likely to have agreed to some extent that they had money worries in the last month than those that served below Officer rank (18.9% compared with 34.1%).

Preparedness to leave the UK armed forces

UK veterans that were unprepared to some extent for life after service in the UK armed forces were more likely to have said their income was £20,799 a year or less than those that were prepared to some extent (32.7% compared with 18.7%) and were less likely to have said their income was £51,950 a year or more (15.8% compared with 26.0%).

Those that were unprepared to some extent for life after service were much more likely to agree to some extent that they had money worries in the past month than those that were prepared to some extent (45.4% compared with 19.1%).

Housing

We are not able to publish data on income or money worries by housing tenure because of small numbers in some housing tenure categories of interest. In this section we consider housing tenure by personal characteristics and attributes. We particularly focus on housing tenure categories for which data from censuses are not available, for example, veterans living long-term with family or friends. We also focus on categories where there may be enumeration issues, for example, veterans that were homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse, as outlined in the Office for National Statistics’s (ONS’s) Housing quality information for Census 2021 methodology. Future analysis will focus on veterans that responded to the survey from prisons.

The majority (78.9%) of respondents said they lived in an owner-occupied or shared ownership house or flat, as reported in ONS’s Veterans’ Survey 2022, demographic overview and coverage analysis, UK article. A further 8.9% lived in privately rented accommodation and 6.0% lived in a socially rented house or flat. This is similar to the findings in our Living arrangements of UK armed forces veterans, England and Wales article.

The Veterans’ Survey 2022 had additional response options to this question, compared with the questions that were available for Census 2021. Around 9 in 400 (2.3%) veterans said they lived long-term with family or friends. Around 1 in 400 (0.3%) veterans said they were homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse (these categories were combined because of small numbers in individual categories) and 3.7% said they had another living situation; veterans in a UK prison or a care home will make up some of this percentage.

Homelessness, rough sleeping, staying in a refuge for domestic abuse or living long-term with family or friends

Just over 1 in 10 (10.8%) veterans that were homeless or rough sleeping said they had received government support, such as from Veterans UK or their local council. Just over 1 in 20 (5.7%) veterans that were homeless or rough sleeping said they had received support from charities, such as Citizens Advice, Shelter or SPACES, to help with housing. Among the remaining responses, each reason proposed for not having received government or charity support was equally cited by respondents once we took uncertainty into account.

Reasons for not seeking support were:

• I was not aware of this support
• I am not eligible
• the support offered to me was not what I needed
• I do not need any support
• I do not trust the government/I do not trust charities
• other

Respondents that said they were “Homeless (including sofa surfing)” or “Rough sleeping” were asked: “For what reason(s) are you homeless or rough sleeping?”.

Mental health, relationship breakdown or lack of affordable housing were more commonly cited as reasons for homelessness or rough sleeping than loss of job or employment.

Figure 7: Loss of job or employment was less commonly cited as a reason for veterans being homeless or rough sleeping than mental health, relationship breakdown or a lack of affordable housing

Weighted percentages of veteran responses about reason(s) why they were homeless or rough sleeping, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

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

Notes:

Respondents that were homeless or rough sleeping could select multiple responses to the question “For what reason(s) are you homeless or rough sleeping?”.

The response options “Left prison with no home to go to” and “Addiction” are not presented because of disclosure control.

Proportions may not sum to 100.

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. These have been classified into high-level themes and can give some insight into what veterans may have meant by “other” as a response option to the reason for their homelessness. Each response could be classified to multiple themes, where applicable. Content analysis of responses is unweighted. Our approach to qualitative analysis is outlined in our Preparedness to leave the UK armed forces, Veterans’ Survey 2022 publication.

We discuss the most prevalent themes in responses from veterans that were rough sleeping, veterans that were homeless or sofa surfing and veterans that said they lived long-term with family or friends. Full descriptions for each theme are in Glossary: qualitative themes. This analysis uses the full sample of responses. We were unable to comment on veterans that were living in a refuge for domestic abuse.

Analysis of responses to what support veterans felt was lacking for those that said they were rough sleeping revealed only two themes. These were the housing support theme and a theme about feeling that no one cared about them. The housing support theme was not identified as a common theme when we assessed responses from veterans of all housing tenures.

Veterans that said they were rough sleeping said housing support was lacking and the majority of them felt that no one cared.

“Someone who cares about veterans, not some politician.”

“No one cares.”

The most prominent themes identified when considering veterans that were homeless or sofa surfing were the housing support theme and the health theme. The housing support theme was referenced by over half of these respondents. The health theme was referenced by around a quarter of respondents and the vast majority spoke specifically about mental health support. This suggests this is an important area of support that veterans in this group felt was lacking. Awareness of, coordination of and signposting to available help, finance support, career support, family support and transition were also prominent themes. These were often mentioned alongside or in conjunction with housing support and mental health support. You can read a full description of what veterans alluded to within each theme in Glossary: qualitative themes.

Veterans that said they were homeless or sofa surfing said housing support was lacking and referenced a lack of support for veterans in relation to health and mental health most prominently.

“Correct housing, not with civi drug addicts, alcoholics, smokers.”

“Military trained mental health services.”

“Timely mental health assistance.”

“I am too ashamed to admit I can’t cope.”

The most prominent theme among veterans that were living long-term with family or friends was the health theme, which was referenced by around a third of these veterans. Around half of these responses specifically pointed to mental health support. Career support and awareness of, coordination of and signposting to available support were the next most prominent themes for veterans that said they lived long-term with family or friends.

Around 1 in 10 referenced the lack of housing support or finance support.

Veterans that said they lived long-term with family or friends most frequently said health support and mental health support was lacking and referenced a lack of support for veterans in relation to signposting to available services and careers information.

“It’s a bit late, I should have received help when I left the Army.  I was medically discharged and left to my own devices.  I had no idea what to do, where to go for further help.  So, like most ex-military, I buried my issues deep within only for them to consequently ruin my life further down the line.”

“Sheltered housing opportunities for veterans with poor health and/or mobility issues. Many of these late developing issues are service related.”

“In desperate need of better healthcare to quickly resolve a physical health issue which has left me out of work with zero income, causing further degradation of my mental health.”

“Should be kept in contact with organisations that are easy to get answers for any situation when required and not be left to sort things out on your own.”

“Advice on transferring into different sectors away from traditional roles when leaving the military.  It’s been difficult finding any information about moving into the Charitable sector and what level I could join in at and so, because of that, I’ve felt like I had to join from the bottom.”

Previous experiences of homelessness, rough sleeping and sofa surfing among veterans

Through our qualitative analysis of responses to what support veterans felt was lacking, we were able to identify veterans that were not currently homeless, rough sleeping or sofa surfing, but had talked about personal experience of this in their own past or current threat of this. It is important to note this analysis includes responses from veterans about homelessness regardless of how long ago they left the UK armed forces, and we are unable to decipher how long ago the experiences they refer to occurred. Policies directed at helping veterans and supporting homelessness in general have changed over time and have been directed at addressing some of the content within these themes. For example, in 2024 regulations were laid to exempt all former members of the regular armed forces from any local connection tests for social housing applied by local councils in England. The main themes identified among these responses are outlined in this section.

Local councils should have been able to do more for veterans and thresholds/guidance used for prioritisation of housing support seemed unfair to veterans.

“When I was discharged as a single soldier, I was homeless at the immediate point of discharge, and when I sought help I was told as a single male with no dependants I had no entitlement to accommodations just to wait and to go to citizens advice as I had been medically discharged with 30% disability this had a profound effect on my mental health and exacerbated my PTSD.”

“I’ve spent the past 5 years moving round from place to place, renting rooms and having no permanent address to live at. The waiting lists for Council housing are huge and rented accommodation prices are massive. There seems to be a total lack of any priority for ex forces when it comes to housing.”

“I was a single parent having completed a full service in the regular army and they would not even put me on the housing list they said I would be lucky to get emergency bed and breakfast and my son may not necessarily be accommodated with me. I felt like a piece of trash that they did not know what to do with.”

“Having found myself in need of a home I was made aware that if you leave the local area for 6 years you lose eligibility for housing. That surely cannot be right when service personnel enlist.”

“When I left the Army, I was homeless due to growing up in care and when going to my local council they would not declare me as homeless there as I did not have family in the area and said I had to go to a different council even though they would say the same. I had to spend time on the street until I could get job seekers and housing benefit to get in a hostel.”

Better sign posting to housing support services before and after transition, ensuring veterans were more prepared upon leaving.

“In my experience it would have been helpful to have contacts and/or support on exit from the army around housing. I was medically discharged and had to sleep on my 12-year-old nieces bedroom floor for 6 months. I was not told about any services that would have been able to help me find somewhere to live.”

“I was given no info before leaving on what to do about housing even though my officers knew I had no family, and I was not aware before time that that would have been an issue.”

Connecting different services for a more integrated approach, particularly housing and mental health and health services.

“I am under threat of homelessness and with a service that only do clinical support for mental health. My therapy is in hold because of my accommodation situation. It reminds me of being on humanitarian operations - you get government agencies sticking to their defined roles and NGOs charging around doing their own thing in different directions and leaving the injured more confused.”

Veterans that were homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse and living long-term with family or friends by personal characteristics and service-related factors

This section includes breakdowns by personal characteristics and service-related factors for veterans that were:

• homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse
• living long-term with family or friends

This article focuses on UK-level data only, which are outlined in our accompanying datasets.

Homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse by personal characteristics and service-related factors

When we considered veterans that were homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse, there was no evidence of a difference in the proportion of veterans within this tenure group by sex, disability status, sexual orientation or economic activity status. Patterns by age were difficult to discern because of high levels of uncertainty.

Veterans that said they agreed to some extent they had money worries in that last month were more likely to be homeless or rough sleeping than those that disagreed to some extent (0.5% compared with 0.1%). Veterans that disagreed that they belonged to their local community to some extent were more likely to be homeless or rough sleeping than veterans that agreed to some extent (0.9% compared with 0.1%). Among veterans, there were no notable differences in awareness of housing support from Veterans UK by housing tenure. Those that were homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse, or those who said “other” to the housing tenure question (6.0%), were more likely to have used this service than those living in owner-occupied properties (0.6%) or those living long-term with family or friends (1.3%), but not more likely than those who lived in privately or socially rented property.

Veterans that were homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse or said “other” to the housing tenure question, were more likely than those of any other tenure to be aware of housing support by local councils, but not the most likely to have used these services.

Our accompanying dataset includes data at the UK-level for awareness, use of and satisfaction with housing support via Veterans UK and housing support via local councils not discussed in this article. Data on awareness of and satisfaction with these services by personal characteristics and service-related factors are also provided.

When we considered service-related factors, there was no evidence of a difference in the proportion of veterans that were homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse by:

• service branch or type of service
• years since leaving service
• rank
• reason for leaving
• deployment
• witnessing or taking part in enemy operations
• experience of bullying, discrimination or harassment during service

However, veterans that felt unprepared for life after service to some extent were more likely to be homeless, rough sleeping or living in a refuge for domestic abuse than veterans that said they felt prepared to some extent (0.5% compared with 0.1%).

Living long-term with family or friends by personal characteristics and service-related factors

Those UK veterans aged 18 to 29 years were much more likely than any other age group to be living long-term with family or friends. Those aged 18 to 49 years were more likely to have reported this living arrangement than those aged 50 years and over. This was not unexpected, given that increasing numbers of young adults are living with family in the general population, as outlined in the Office for National Statistics’s (ONS’s) Census 2021 report More adults living with their parents.

There was no evidence of differences in the proportion of veterans living long-term with family or friends by sex, disability status or sexual orientation. Those that were economically active were more likely to be living long-term with family or friends than those that were not (3.1% compared with 1.5%). This is expected given the younger age profile of veterans living long-term with family or friends. Those who agreed to some extent that they had money worries in the last month were also more likely to be living long-term with family or friends than those that disagreed to some extent (3.5% compared with 1.4%). Veterans that said they disagreed to some extent with the statement “I feel like I belong to my local community” were more likely to have reported this living arrangement than those that agreed to some extent (4.8% compared with 1.2%).

When we considered service-related factors there was no evidence of a difference in the proportion of veterans that were living long-term with family or friends by:

• service type
• service branch
• reason for leaving
• deployment
• witnessing or taking part in enemy operations
• experience of bullying or harassment during service

However, veterans that had served below Officer rank were more likely to be living long-term with family or friends than those that served at Officer rank (2.7% compared with 1.2%). Veterans that had served less than 5 years were also more likely to be living long-term with family or friends than those that had served for longer periods. Veterans that felt unprepared for life after service to some extent were more likely to be living long-term with family or friends than veterans that said they felt prepared to some extent (3.2% compared with 1.5%).

Figure 8: Preparedness to leave the UK armed forces had a relationship with whether veterans were living long-term with family or friends or were homeless, rough sleeping or staying in a refuge for domestic abuse

Weighted percentages of veteran responses about preparedness to leave the UK armed forces by housing tenure interest groups, Veterans’ Survey 2022, UK.

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

Notes:

Blank responses and “Prefer not to say” responses were removed from this analysis because of high levels of uncertainty.

Future publications

Further findings from the Veterans’ Survey 2022 will be published throughout 2025. This will include themed analysis, covering topics such as the economic activity of UK armed forces veterans.

Data about the finance and housing of UK armed forces veterans

Finance and housing for UK armed forces veterans: income and money worries
Dataset | Released on 10 January 2025

UK armed forces veterans, income bands and money worries by personal and service-related characteristics, weighted estimates, taken from the Veterans’ Survey, UK.

Finance and housing for UK armed forces veterans: loans, credit and benefits received
Dataset | Released on 10 January 2025

UK armed forces veterans’ receipt of loans, credit and benefits by personal and service-related characteristics, weighted estimates, taken from the Veterans’ Survey, UK.

Finance and housing for UK armed forces veterans: housing tenure
Dataset | Released on 10 January 2025

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

Finance and housing for UK armed forces veterans: housing services
Dataset | Released on 10 January 2025

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

Deployment

Respondents that were completing the survey on their own behalf (without assistance) were asked “During your service, did you deploy on an Operational Deployment (named operations)?”

All respondents who said they were deployed on an Operational Deployment (named operation) were also asked: “Did you witness or take part in operations against enemy forces?”

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.

‘Unemployed’ refers to people who said they were out of work during the same period but were either looking for work, 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.

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

Awareness, coordination and signposting

Many veterans said the main thing lacking for them was knowledge of what support was already available. There were many references about veterans being confused about existing services and offers. This theme included references to veterans themselves not knowing what was available and in relation to providers of veteran services also not knowing what other services were available or what they offered. This theme also included references to a need for less fragmentation and better coordination of existing services, provided by both government and charities. Many responses suggested a ‘one-stop shop’ for veterans was needed. Improved communication about what was already available, often in the form of centralised newsletters, websites or an assigned point of contact that could act as a navigator, was also mentioned.

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 pre-conceptions 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 pre-conceptions 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.

Families

The families theme includes suggestions around family support for transition into civilian life. This includes housing, health and schooling, available information specifically for families, being a carer for a family member, or the family member caring for the veteran. There were also references to finance and pensions implications not being clear to veterans in the event of their death, and support for families when leaving.

Finance

This theme includes all mentions of financial advice and assistance. It was often referenced alongside housing, education, or pension themes. This theme relates to a need to improve overall financial literacy training as part of transition out of the UK armed forces. This included references to understanding the pitfalls of borrowing, planning, saving, mortgages, tax (with specific references to self-employment) and financial planning for retirement. This also involves help with understanding and accessing the benefits system, and actual funding and grants. Funding or grants were specifically mentioned in relation to training and retraining or education and housing, in relation to assistance with necessary purchases for health-related issues, like hearing aids, mobility scooters, or home modifications, and in relation to general help with the cost of living.

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.

Housing

This is a broad theme that covers any mentions of improved support for finding housing, both in terms of providing veterans with better, more timely information, and in relation to actual prioritisation of housing services and provision of veteran-specific schemes. Often veterans will have just stated “housing”. Where more context was given, it often related to provision of support to those who were leaving the UK armed forces and trying to secure accommodation while also seeking a job, and that this was difficult to do simultaneously. Some referenced a need for confirmed housing upon leaving the UK armed forces for an interim period while a veteran found work. There were calls for more support in supplying both information about and the actual provision of social, council or affordable housing for veterans. Some veterans said they feel they should be supported to get on the property ladder and help to buy and shared ownership schemes for veterans were referenced. More transparency on assistance with housing for veterans and their families was referenced, including better protection from bad landlords and better provision for people living in unsuitable accommodation. Many veterans also said more needs to be done to support homeless veterans.

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. 

NHS

Within the theme of health, multiple sub-themes were included in the given responses. The NHS was often referred to in relation to access to services, with some veterans saying there was a large time lapse between leaving the UK armed forces and being able to register with an NHS dentist or doctor. Veterans also spoke about resorting to registering with an NHS service that was not very local to them because of availability. The NHS was also discussed in terms of waiting times, lack of understanding or implementation of the Armed Forces Covenant and Duty of Due Regard. Veterans felt their GPs and dentists were not aware of recording their veteran status.

Pension

Veterans also mentioned pensions and pension advice or pension provision. One of the most common references to pensions was related to veterans wanting to receive better information about their service pension, so they can better understand and plan for their future. Veterans said they felt they were provided with little or no information, or that the information they were provided with was difficult to understand. Some veterans mentioned that they needed a subscription to enable them to receive more timely pension information. Others suggested free access to a pension society would be beneficial. Other references within this category related to specific groups of veterans having concerns about pension provision. Veterans who served prior to 1975 said they felt they should be entitled to a pension. There were specific references to unequal Gurkha pensions, the difficult, complex, or negative processes involved in applying for a War Pension, and a need for clarity over the provision of widow’s pensions.

Service injury

Many veterans felt that because of the service-related nature of many of their health issues and to their service more generally, there should be a way to fast track or prioritise services for veterans, or that specific veteran medical services should be provided. Treatment for deterioration of health conditions over time, which were caused by a veteran’s role in service was also something veterans said was lacking.

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

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.

Veterans’ Survey 2022. Official statistics in development.

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.