Analysis of Financial Support to the Surviving Spouses and Children of Casualties in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

by Amalia Miller, Paul Heaton, David S. Loughran

Download

Download eBook for Free

Full Document

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.3 MB Best for desktop computers.

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

ePub file 2.8 MB Best for mobile devices.

On desktop computers and some mobile devices, you may need to download an eBook reader to view ePub files. Calibre is an example of a free and open source e-book library management application.

mobi file 1.7 MB Best for Kindle 1-3.

On desktop computers and some mobile devices, you may need to download an eBook reader to view mobi files. Amazon Kindle is the most popular reader for mobi files.

Summary Only

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.1 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

Purchase

Purchase Print Copy

 FormatList Price Price
Add to Cart Paperback52 pages $19.95 $15.96 20% Web Discount

Research Questions

  1. How have the deaths of service members during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan affected the subsequent labor market earnings of their surviving spouses?
  2. Do survivor benefits provided by the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Social Security Administration (SSA) compensate for lost household earnings?

This study examines how the deaths of service members during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have affected the subsequent labor market earnings of their surviving spouses and the extent to which survivor benefits provided by the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration compensate for lost household earnings. It also assesses the extent to which payments that surviving spouses and children receive compensate for earnings losses attributable to combat deaths. The labor market earnings of households experiencing a combat death in the years following deployment are compared with those of deployed but uninjured service-member households. Because the risk of combat death is likely to be correlated with characteristics of service members that could themselves affect household labor market outcomes (e.g., pay grade, military occupation, risk-taking behavior), the study controlled for a rich array of individual-level characteristics, including labor market outcomes for both service members and spouses prior to deployment. This approach includes potentially unobserved factors that are unique to specific households and fixed over time and increases the likelihood that the results capture the causal effect of combat death on household earnings.

Key Findings

Household Labor Market Earnings Decline Substantially in the Years Following the Combat Death of a Member of the Household

  • Household earnings losses following the combat death of a household member are economically large and persistent over time.
  • Most (approximately 90 percent) of the losses can be attributed to the loss of the deceased service member's own earnings, with the remainder attributable to declines in spousal earnings.
  • Recurrent benefits replace a substantial fraction of earnings losses, but meaningful income losses remain after taking them into account.
  • The combined value of recurrent and lump-sum benefits can fully offset household earnings losses for 20 years or more.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter One

    Introduction

  • Chapter Two

    Data Used in the Study

  • Chapter Three

    Empirical Model

  • Chapter Four

    Results

  • Chapter Five

    Discussion

  • Chapter Six

    Conclusions

The research described in this report was prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). The research was conducted within the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by OSD, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Technical report series. RAND technical reports may include research findings on a specific topic that is limited in scope or intended for a narrow audience; present discussions of the methodology employed in research; provide literature reviews, survey instruments, modeling exercises, guidelines for practitioners and research professionals, and supporting documentation; or deliver preliminary findings. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure that they meet high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.