King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, London, UK
ADMMH, King's College London, London, UK.
Occup Environ Med. 2019 Oct;76(10):726-732. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2019-105737. Epub 2019 Aug 2.
In the first study of its kind in the UK, we linked pensions data on benefit claims with data from the King's Military Cohort to assess uptake of unemployment and disability benefits in military veterans of the UK Armed Forces.
Benefits data were matched with data on the mental health, demographics and military-related variables for 7942 veterans who had previously served as regulars and transitioned to civilian life between 2003 and 2016. Associations between demographic and service-related factors and benefit claims were assessed using Cox regression to take into account period at risk.
Around 20% of veterans claim unemployment benefits (UB) shortly after leaving, but this proportion drops rapidly to around 2% in the first 2 years post service. Receipt of disability benefits (DB) is less common (1.5%), but longer-term. The most consistent predictors of postservice benefit usage were: low rank (a proxy for socio-economic status while in service) (HR 1.42 (95% CI 1.23 to 1.65) for UB and 1.59 (95% CI 1.11 to 2.27) for DB); leaving service (HR 1.29 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.56) between unplanned leaving and UB, and 7.51 (95% CI 5.31 to 10.6) between medical discharge and DB), and having a history of claiming benefits before joining the Services (HR 1.62 (95% CI 1.34 to 1.95) between preservice and postservice UB, and 2.86 (95% CI 1.09 to 7.47) between preservice and postservice DB).
Benefit claims by veterans are largely driven by socioeconomic, rather than military, factors. Additional employment-focused support to Service leavers may be particularly useful to lower-ranked personnel and those leaving in an unplanned way. Continuity of care and medical oversight is a key concern for those with medical discharges.
在英国此类研究中首次开展的研究中，我们将养老金的福利申领数据与英国武装部队的国王军事队列的数据相链接，以评估英国退伍军人领取失业和残疾福利的情况。
对 7942 名曾在 2003 年至 2016 年间作为现役军人并过渡到平民生活的退伍军人的福利数据与心理健康、人口统计学和与军事相关的变量数据进行了匹配。使用 Cox 回归评估人口统计学和服务相关因素与福利申领之间的关联，以考虑风险期。
大约 20%的退伍军人在离开后不久就申请了失业津贴（UB），但这一比例在服务结束后 2 年内迅速降至 2%左右。残疾津贴（DB）的领取率较低（约为 1.5%），但期限较长。退伍后使用福利的最一致的预测因素是：低级别（在役时的社会经济地位的代表）（UB 的 HR 为 1.42（95%CI 1.23 至 1.65），DB 的 HR 为 1.59（95%CI 1.11 至 2.27））；离开服务（UB 的 HR 为 1.29（95%CI 1.07 至 1.56），UB 之间的非计划性离职，DB 的 HR 为 7.51（95%CI 5.31 至 10.6），医疗出院）和在加入军队之前有福利申领史（UB 的 HR 为 1.62（95%CI 1.34 至 1.95），DB 的 HR 为 2.86（95%CI 1.09 至 7.47））。
退伍军人的福利申领主要由社会经济因素驱动，而不是军事因素。对现役人员提供额外的以就业为重点的支持，对于低级别人员和非计划性离职人员可能特别有用。对于那些有医疗退役的人，连续性护理和医疗监督是一个关键问题。
