“I want more for my kids than just giving them the bare minimum,” says Aubrey Carter, a 30-year-old veteran.
Carter has been struggling to find stable work since leaving the military in 2022.
After serving six years, Carter believed she and her family would have security — including health coverage — once her service ended. Instead, she says she has faced unemployment, part-time gig work, and the emotional toll of trying to raise children without reliable health insurance.
“I never thought I would be Ubering after the Army,” Carter told CBS in a recent feature. She now relies on part-time rideshare driving and making juices for extra income.
While Carter has access to health care through the Veterans Affairs system, her children remain uninsured.
The financial strain hit hardest last year when all three of her kids came down with the flu. “We had to share medication because the Tamiflu was so expensive. I couldn’t afford it for three,” she explained.
Despite her sacrifices, Carter says she feels forgotten. “I feel invisible because despite serving my country, despite being a veteran, the job market has still shown no mercy.”
Her daily life is a balancing act between affirming her children each morning, scraping together enough income to keep bills paid, and navigating the heartbreak of saying no when her kids need more.
“It makes me emotional because I just want them to have so much more, and it hurts telling them no,” she said.
Carter hopes her story will serve as a wake-up call to policymakers:
“I would just really like for the people in power to know how much veterans truly have sacrificed — how hard it is for veterans to find employment, to truly just keep up.”
