VA announced last week that an all-time record number of women veterans are now receiving earned disability compensation benefits. The number stands at an astounding 702,557, an increase of nearly 181,000, or 26 percent, over what it was just five years ago. Women veterans are the fastest-growing demographic at VA. 

“Women veterans have fought in every war since the American Revolution, but they have not always been able to access the care and benefits they have earned and deserved,” said Tanya Bradsher, the first woman Deputy Secretary at VA. “But now, at VA, we’re making sure that those days are over.”

The average woman veteran who receives disability compensation from VA has a 68 percent combined disability rating and receives an average of $26,809 per year in benefits. More than 89 percent of women veterans who have applied for disability benefits with VA have received benefits for at least one condition. Most responsible for the dramatic increase is the PACT Act, which has empowered VA to expand health care and benefits to thousands of women veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving the country.

For additional insights into this unprecedented increase in access to benefits, click here.