Most soldiers resettle without too many problems. For some, the change between military and civilian life can be difficult. In general:

• after you return to civilian life you would be more likely to be worse off than the general population than better off, on average (although that is partly because the army mainly recruits from poor neighbourhoods in the first place)
• about a third of ex-forces personnel (below retirement age) work in unskilled jobs or are entirely dependent on benefit
• about 1 in 50 ex-forces personnel are homeless
• on average, ex-forces personnel are more likely than civilians to become homeless
• if you joined the army from a poor background you would be more likely to leave early and would have more difficulty re-settling into civilian life
• if you left the army early (after only a few years) then you would be more likely to have problems re-settling into civilian life, than if you stayed in the army longer

[Sources: Crisis, 2000; Royal British Legion, 2005 (extrapolated); Report of the Task Force on the Military Covenant, 2010]

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