Most people 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 (although that is partly because the armed forces mainly recruit 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 others to become homeless, although most homeless ex-forces personnel were in the army, not the navy.

[Sources: Crisis, 2000; Royal British Legion, 2005 (extrapolated)]

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