What do you think is the ratio of rich to poor within the military?

Question

Just curious because it seems recruitment is done mainly in poorer areas.

Maybe i'm wrong. Does the military also recruit in the suburbs and richer areas.

And how many of the wealthy or well to do are actually in the military if you had to guess. I mean, actually fighting currently or currently enlisted.

Rich-Income or that of immediate family exceeds $200,000, let's say..give or take

Poor- " " is less than $30,000

Faulty-I knew someone would say something about the 30K. I'm talking household income, not individual...

Faulty-Pretty much, you get what i'm saying..the rich (subdivisions with homes starting at 500K, mercedes, vacation homes etc.) and the poor (barely getting by..)

Answer 1

Many folks would have you believe that we use the poor to fight our wars. This is not the case. I was upper-middle class and I joined as an officer. I knew enlisted guys that had been stockbrokers, real estate brokers, even some that were professional pilots on the side. Many of them took a pay cut to join. I served with people who came from almost every step on the socio-economic ladder. You won't find too many people from truly rich families (i.e. deca-millionaires and above), but I believe that is mainly because that is such a small slice of our population to begin with.

Right now I attend the University of Texas. This is a public school, but it is considered an "elite" public school because they have VERY high admission requirements (top 10% of your high school class, etc) and tuition is pretty high. There is a big military recruiting center just off campus. It wouldn't be there if people weren't signing up. I've seen recruiting centers in all kinds of neighborhoods, not just the poor ones.

Of course, this reality doesn't fit well with the worldview of many critics of the military, but so what? Also, you should consider the potential benefits to someone from a poor background: they enter a profession that is built around teamwork and service, they get access to outstanding healthcare, affordable housing (almost free), nutritious meals, superb educational prospects through Tuition Assistance and the GI Bill and if they make it a career they get the best retirement benefits in America. Beats the crap out of flipping burgers at Micky D's.

So the military recruits from all walks of life. For poor folks, the incentive to join is going to be much higher then for rich folks who don't need the money or benefits. That's just the way life is.

Answer 2

Girlzcant...you need to lay off the crack---recruitement goals have been met or exceeded by the Army for the last 2-3 years in a row. Don't know where you get your info from.

OP: as others have stated recruitement is ALL over the place, not targeting the 'poor'. There are recruiting stations in the malls for God's sake!--this is where I take my "goody bags" to for those guys/gals. Hard to find decent food in the mall. ;)
And as others said, you will most definately find that across the board, everyone has different financial backgrounds.
Many folks join as part of a family tradition. There are some that can trace their military heritage as far back as the Revolution.

Answer 3

First of all, they don't aim their recruitment at income ranges. They will take the wealthiest as well as the poorest, in theory, although being a multimillionaire would make a soldier a risk for kidnapping. Also, take into account that they look for young men and women, people who have barely tested the workforce waters. Sure, people from wealthier families will not enticed by the college money and job training, but some people still join up because they love their country or the chance for adventure.

Answer 4

No, recruitment is more effective in poor and middle class areas, because the military has more to offer to that demographic. Most of the Marines I served with weren't poor. Their families were suburbanites, middle income people. They made too much money to qualify for financial aid, and not enough to pay for college without lots of loans. Or, it is a way to gain experience in a field without having to pay. A lot of the classes offered at technical schools youcan get through the military for free. Patriotism often has a lot to do with it too, as well as family tradition.

When you see upper class kids enlisting or gettng a commission, it is because of either a family tradition or patriotism, because they don't need the money. The thing is that a lot of the upper class families now look at military service as degrading, wich takes care of that side, and the leftist crap preached in our schools today works hard to destroy patriotism. So you see fewer rich kids joining.

Answer 5

That the military mainly recruit in the poor areas is the biggest myth out there.

The poor are actualy way under represented in the US military.

The majority of the military are from the middle class, just as a majority of the civilian population is from the middle class.

The upper income brackets are represented in the military slightly above thier percentage in the civilian world, and if you add officers to the list, that percentage would go higher.

Below are two links to social economic studies done of military enlistees.

Answer 6

On the socioeconomic side, the military is strongly middle class, Gilroy said. More recruits are drawn from the middle class and fewer are coming from poorer and wealthier families. Recruits from poorer families are actually underrepresented in the military, Gilroy said.
The data shows the force is more educated than the population at large. Servicemembers have high school diplomas or the general equivalency diploma. More servicemembers have some college than the typical 18- to 24-year-olds. "To carry representativeness to the extreme, we would have to have a less-educated force or we would want a lower-aptitude force," Gilroy said.

Answer 7

The cool thing about the military is that you get a glimpse into the total make up of the U.S. You will meet people from ALL walks of life.

So, the ratio between poor and rich in the military mirrors the ratio between the poor and rich just on a smaller scale. Know what I mean?

But I would also ask you to give me your definition of what is poor and what is rich. Be more specific and not so general.

Thanks.

Answer 8

Military recruiters hit all areas. There are several reasons why you see more lower and middle class in the military, the biggest two are that the recruiters can't break into private schools, and the rich kids can afford to do what they want. The lower and middle classes are more inclined to want to better themselves where as the rich kids are willing to let mommy and daddy pay for everything.

Answer 9

I'd say the wealthy probably make up a small majority. Especially in the enlisted ranks. You'll probably find more officers who came from "well off" backgrounds and went to college before joining the military. The poor are also more likely to join because of the health benefits and education opportunities the military provides.

Answer 10

From my experience so far on both active duty, and the Guard the majority of the people I have served with come both the the upper and lower middle class. A few come from really poor families but nobody came from an upper class family.

Of course my experienceand observations are limited to 4 companies I served with but it is worth noting