Economic desperation on Guam drives unusually high military enlistment rates

Evidence

Enlistment rates on Guam generally top those of nearly every U.S. state and territory. This is in no small part because Guam’s unemployment and poverty rates tend to top the nation’s as well. Currently, unemployment is around 13 percent, with the poverty rate around 20 percent. At $39,000 a year, median household income is less than three quarters of the U.S. average. Nearly everyone on the island has a family member or close friend connected to the military in some way, whether as a member of the military, a veteran, or an employee on base or in a base-dependent industry. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 243

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 243