The role of the military in women’s lives

The military is a critical institutional influence on the life course. This chapter documents changes in American women’s ties to the military across cohorts, and explores how women’s direct and indirect connections to the military shape their lives, in general, and outcomes in later life, in particular. It documents historical trends in women’s military ties and involvement in war efforts, and considers how federal government benefits provided to military personnel and their family members contribute to women’s later-life well-being. These discussions reveal how women’s variable connections to the military, and the ways that military service directly and indirectly influences older women’s lives, are relatively neglected considerations in research on women’s aging.