Veterans (Volume II, Part VIII - Subject Reports)
Definitions and Explanations
Some of the definitions used in 1960 differ from those used in 1950. These changes were made after consultation with users of census data in order to improve the statistics, even though it was recognized that comparability would be affected. The Definitions and Explanations should be interpreted in the context of the 1960 Censuses, in which data were collected by a combination of self-enumeration, direct interview, and observation by the enumerator.
The definitions below are consistent with the instructions given to the enumerator. As in all surveys, there were some failures to execute the instructions exactly. Through the forms distributed to households, the respondents were given explanations of some of the questions more uniformly than would have been given in direct interviews. Nevertheless, it was not feasible to give the full instructions to the respondents, and some erroneous replies have undoubtedly gone undetected.
More complete discussions of the definitions of population and housing items are given in 1960 Census of Population, Volume I, Characteristics of the Population, Part 1, United States Summary, and each of the State parts and in 1960 Census of Housing, Volume I, States and Small Areas.
The data on Veteran Status were derived from the answers to the following questions on the Household Questionnaire:
A "veteran" is here defined as a male who has served in the Armed Forces of the United States. All other persons are classified as nonveterans. Because relatively few females have served in the Armed Forces in this country, questions on Veteran Status were asked only of males. Furthermore, the statistics on Veteran Status presented here are for civilian males only and do not cover persons who were in the Armed Forces at the time of the census.
In the classification by period of service, the veteran is allocated to the most recent period of service, with two exceptions. "War service always takes priority over peacetime service; and, in some of the tables, persons who served both in the Korean War and in World War II are recognized as a separate category. Although separate recognition is given to all periods of service in some of the tables presented here, the standard classification is in terms of war and other service veterans. War veterans are persons who served in the Armed Forces during periods of time in which the United States was officially at war, and other service veterans are persons who served in the Armed Forces when the United States was not at war.
Uses and limitations of the data
Some readers may wish to compare the characteristics of the male civilian veterans with those of all males. Because of the age distribution of the veteran population valid comparisons with the General population require a control by age, however. Data cross-classified by age on virtually all the characteristics of veterans shown in the present report appear in chapter D of Volume I, Part I, United States Summary or in Volume II (Series PC (2) reports). Information on Years of School Completed by the total male population 14 years old and over cross-classified by income, age, and color, for example, is shown in the final report Series PC(2)-5B, Educational Attainment, and information on family income by age and color of head appears in the final report PC (2 )-4C, Sources and Structure of Family Income.
A considerable body of data is presented here on civilian male veterans. Similar information including war or other service was collected for the 1,733,402 members of the Armed Forces stationed in the United States, but was not tabulated.
Other than the statistics in table 1, which present data for veterans 18 years old and over, the figures in this report on the number of veterans cover all civilian males 14 years old and over in the United States who have served in the Armed Forces, regardless of whether their service was in war or during peacetime. Estimates prepared by the Veterans Administration include civilian veterans living outside as well as in the United States and, Generally speaking, cover only persons with war service. Thus, the count of veterans from the 1960 Census is not directly comparable in all particulars with estimates of the total number of veterans published by the Veterans Administration.
Within these limitations, however, it appears that the 1960 Census figure for veterans of World War II and/or the Korean War is about 7 percent less than the Veterans Administration's estimate and that the census count and the Veterans Administration's estimate for veterans of World War I are in substantial agreement. The difference in definition of "other service" category precludes any useful comparison of the figures for this group.
The true number of veterans of service in the Armed Forces of the United States is unknown. There is no legal requirement that veterans must register with the Veterans Administration. The estimates prepared by the Veterans Administration are based, in part, on rosters of veterans receiving benefits from the various programs administered by the Veterans Administration and, since World War II, on sample data on separations from the Armed Forces compiled by the Department of Defense. At the same time, counts of veterans by the Bureau of the Census, particularly those for veterans of World War II, have always fallen considerably short of the Veterans Administration estimates, and the percentage of the male civilian population l4 years old and over not reporting their Veteran Status has always been appreciable. In 1960, Veteran Status was not reported for approximately 10 percent of this population, and comparable figures from unpublished tabulations of 1950 data were at a slightly higher level. In short, both figures of the Bureau of the Census and the Veterans Administration have their limitations. The size, however, of the unknown margin of error is not deemed to be large enough to prevent the effective use of data on veterans from the 1960 Census for many purposes.
The median is presented in connection with the data on age, Years of School Completed, income, and value of owner-occupied housing unit. It is the value which divides the distribution into two equal parts, one-half the cases falling below this value and one- half the cases exceeding this value. In the computation of median income for persons, persons with no income were included; whereas, in other 1960 Census reports this class is excluded from the distribution in the computation of medians.
A plus (+) or minus (-) sign after the median indicates that the median is above or below that number. For example, a median of $10,000+ for income indicates that the median fell in the interval "$10,000 and over".
The mean is presented in connection with the data on the personal income of veterans. It represents the amount obtained by dividing the total income of a group by the number of individuals in the given group, including those with no income. In most census reports, however, the no income group is excluded from the computation. In the derivation of aggregate amounts, persons in the open-end interval $25,000 and over were assigned an estimated mean of $50,000.
In General, the urban population comprises all persons living in urbanized areas and in places of 2,500 inhabitants or more outside urbanized areas. More specifically, according to the definition adopted for use in the 1960 Census, the urban population comprises all persons living in (a) places of 2,500 inhabitants or more incorporated as cities, boroughs, villages, and towns (except towns in New England, New York, and Wisconsin); (b) the densely settled urban fringe, whether incorporated or unincorporated, of urbanized areas; (c) towns in New England and townships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania which contain no incorporated municipalities as subdivisions and have either 25,000 inhabitants or more or a population of 2,500 to 25,000 and a density of 1,500 persons or more per square mile; (d) counties in States other than the New England States, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania that have no incorporated municipalities within their boundaries and have a density of 1,500 persons or more per square mile; and (e) unincorporated places of 2,500 inhabitants or more. The population not classified as urban constitutes the rural population.
The rural population is subdivided into the rural-farm population, which comprises all rural residents living on farms, and the rural-nonfarm population, which comprises the remaining rural population. The nonfarm population, as the term is used in this report, comprises persons living in urban areas and rural persons not living on farms. The farm population consists of persons living in rural territory on places of 10 or more acres from which sales of farm products amounted to $50 or more in 1959 or on places of less than 10 acres from which sales of farm products amounted to $250 or more in 1959. All persons living in group quarters are classified as nonfarm except the relatively few living in workers' quarters (including quarters for migratory agricultural workers) that are located on a farm or ranch.
The age classification is based on the age of the person in completed years as of April 1, 1960, as determined from the reply to a question on month and year of birth.
The term "color" refers to the division of population into two groups, white and nonwhite. The color group designated as "nonwhite" includes Negroes, American Indians, Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Koreans, Hawaiians, Asian Indians, Malayans, Eskimos, Aleuts, etc. Persons of Mexican birth or ancestry who are not definitely of Indian or other nonwhite race are classified as white.
Years of School Completed
The data on Years of School Completed were derived from the answers to the two questions: (a) "What is the highest grade (or year) of regular school he has ever attended?" and (b) "Did he finish this grade (or year)?" Enumerators were instructed to obtain the approximate equivalent grade in the American school system for persons whose highest grade of attendance was in a foreign school system, whose highest level of attendance was in an ungraded school, whose highest level of schooling was measured by "readers," or whose training by a tutor was regarded as qualifying under the "regular" school definition. Persons were to answer "No" to the second question if they were attending school, had completed only part of a grade before they dropped out, or failed to pass the last grade attended.
The number in each category of highest grade of school completed represents the combination of (a) persons who reported that they had attended the indicated grade and finished it, and (b) those who had attended the next higher grade but had not finished it.
The questions on educational attainment applied only to progress in "regular" schools. Regular schooling is that which may advance a person toward an elementary school certificate or high school diploma, or a college, university, or professional degree. Schooling that was not obtained in a regular school and schooling from a tutor or through correspondence courses were counted only if the credits obtained were regarded as transferable to a school in the regular school system. Schooling which is generally regarded as not regular includes that which is given in nursery schools, in specialized vocational, trade, or business schools; in on-the-job training; and through correspondence courses.
Elementary school, as defined here, includes grades 1 to 8, and high school includes grades 9 to 12. College includes junior or community colleges, regular 4-year colleges, and graduate of professional schools.
Residence on April 1, 1955, is the usual place of residence five years prior to enumeration. The category "same house as in 1960" includes all persons 5 years old and over who were reported as living in the same house on the date of enumeration in 1960 and five years prior to enumeration. Included in the group are persons who had never moved during the five years as well as those who had moved but by 1960 had returned to their 1955 residence. The category "different house in the U.S." includes persons who, on April 1, 1955, lived in the United States in a different house from the one they occupied on April 1, 1960. This category was subdivided into three groups according to their 1955 residence, viz., "different house, same county," "different county, same State," and "different State." The category "abroad" includes those with residence in a foreign country or an outlying area of the United States in 1955. (In the coding of this item, persons who lived in Alaska or Hawaii in 1955 but in other States in 1960 were classified as living in a different State in 1955.) Persons 5 years old and over who had indicated they had moved into their present residence after April 1, 1955, but, for whom sufficiently complete and consistent information regarding residence on April 1, 1955, was not collected, are included in the group "moved, place of Residence In 1955 not reported."
In preparing the record for the 5-percent sample, on which the present report is based, all movers from one borough to another within New York City were classified as movers within the "same county," whereas in reports based on the 25-percent record, persons who moved across borough lines were classified as movers between counties within the "same State." Hence, the 5-percent sample shows more veterans who were movers within the same county than would be shown in corresponding figures from the 25-percent sample, and fewer migrants between counties within the same State. This difference should have little influence on the percent distributions by characteristics of veterans in the various mobility status classes.
This classification refers to the marital status of the person at the time of enumeration. Persons classified as "married" comprise, therefore, both those who have been married only once and those who remarried after having been widowed or divorced. Persons reported as separated (either legally separated or otherwise absent from the spouse because of marital discord) are classified as a subcategory of married persons. The enumerators were instructed to report persons in common-law marriages as married and persons whose only marriage had been annulled as single. Persons "ever married" are those in the categories married (including separated), widowed, and divorced.
A married person with "spouse present" is a man or woman whose spouse was enumerated as a member of the same household even though he or she may have been temporarily absent on "business or vacation, visiting, in a hospital, etc., at the time of enumeration. Per-sons classified as "married, spouse absent" include both those who are separated because of marital discord and those whose spouse is absent for other reasons, such as service in the Armed Forces or employment at a considerable distance from home.
Household, Housing Unit, And Institutional Population
A household consists of all the persons who occupy a housing unit. A house, an apartment or other group of rooms, or a single room, is regarded as a housing unit when it is occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters; that is, when the occupants do not live and eat with any other persons in the structure and there is either (1) direct access from the outside or through a common hall or (2) a kitchen or cooking equipment for the exclusive use of the occupants.
All persons who are not members of households are regarded as living in group quarters. Group quarters are living arrangements for institutional inmates or for other groups containing five or more persons unrelated to the person in charge. Most of the persons in group quarters live in rooming houses, college dormitories, military barracks, or institutions. The institutional population includes all inmates of institutions; that is, persons for whom care or custody is provided in such places as homes for delinquent or dependent children; homes and schools for the mentally or physically handicapped; places providing specialized medical care for persons with mental disorders, tuberculosis, or other chronic disease; nursing and domiciliary homes for the aged and dependent; prisons; and jails.
Family and Unrelated Individual
A family consists of two or more persons in the same household who are related to each other by blood, marriage, or adoption; all persons living in one household who are related to each other are regarded as one family. In a primary family, the head of the family is the head of a household. Other families are secondary families.
The head of the family is the member reported as the head by the household respondent. However, if a married woman living with her husband is reported as the head, her husband is classified as the head for the purpose of census tabulations.
Relative of family head includes all family members except the head.
An own child of a household head or of a family head is defined here as a single (never married) son, daughter, stepchild, or adopted child of the head in question.
An unrelated individual is (1) a member of a household who is living entirely alone or with one or more persons all of whom are not related to him, or (2) a person living in group quarters who is not an inmate of an institution.
The data on employment status relate to the calendar week prior to the date on which the respondents filled their Household Questionnaires or were interviewed by enumerators. This week is not the same for all respondents because not all persons were enumerated during the same week.
Employed persons comprise all civilians 14 years old and over who were either (a) "at work"-those who did any work for pay or profit, or worked without pay for 15 hours or more on a family farm or in a family business; or (b) were "with a job but not at work"- those who did not work and were not looking for work but had a job or business from which they were temporarily absent because of bad weather, industrial dispute, vacation, illness, or other personal reasons.
Persons are classified as unemployed if they were 14 years old and over and not "at work" but looking for work. A person is considered as looking for work not only if he actually tried to find work but also if he had made such efforts recently (i.e., within the past 60 days) and was awaiting the results of these efforts. Persons waiting to be called back to a job from which they had been laid off or furloughed are also counted as unemployed.
The "civilian labor force" includes all persons classified as employed or unemployed, as described above. The "labor force" also includes members of the Armed Forces (persons on active duty with the United States Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard). The experienced civilian labor force includes the employed and the experienced unemployed (unemployed persons who have worked at any time in the past).
Persons "not in the labor force" comprise all those 14 years old and over who are not classified as members of the labor force, including persons doing only incidental unpaid family work (less than 15 hours during the week).
The statistics on Hours Worked pertain to the number of hours actually worked, and not necessarily to the number usually worked or the scheduled number of hours. For persons working at more than one job, the figures reflect the combined number of Hours Worked at all jobs during the week. The data on Hours Worked presented in this report provide a broad classification of persons at work into full-time and part-time workers. Persons are considered to be working full time if they worked 35 hours or more during the reference week and part time if they worked less than 35 hours.
The data on Weeks Worked In 1959 pertain to the number of different weeks during 1959 in which a person did any work for pay or profit (including paid vacation and sick leave) or worked without pay on a family farm or in a family business. Weeks of active service in the Armed Forces are also included.
The data on occupation in this report are for the experienced civilian labor force. For employed persons they refer to the job held during the week for which employment status was reported. For persons employed at two or more jobs, the data refer to the job at which the person worked the greatest number of hours. For the experienced unemployed, the data refer to the last job held. The occupation statistics presented here are based on the detailed systems developed for the 1960 Census; see 1960 Census of Population, Classified Index of Occupations and Industries, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1960.
Information on income for the calendar year 1959 was requested from all persons 14 years old and over in the sample. "Total income" is the sum of amounts reported separately for wage or salary income, self- employment income, and other income. Wage or salary income is defined as the total money earnings received for work performed as an employee. It represents the amount received before deductions for personal income taxes, Social Security, bond purchases, union dues, etc. Self-employment income is defined as net money income (gross receipts minus operating expenses) from a business, farm, or professional enterprise in which the person was engaged on his own account. "Earnings" are obtained by summing wage or salary income and self-employment income. Other income includes money income received from such sources as net rents, interest, dividends, Social Security benefits, pensions, veterans' payments, unemployment insurance, and public assistance or other governmental payments, and periodic receipts from insurance policies or annuities. Not included as income are money received from the sale of property (unless the recipient was engaged in the business of selling such property), the value of income "in kind," withdrawals of bank deposits, money borrowed, tax refunds, and gifts and lump-sum inheritances or insurance payments.
In the statistics on family income, the combined incomes of all members of each family are treated as a single amount. Although the time period covered by the income statistics is the calendar year 1959, the composition of families refers to the time of enumeration. For most of the families, however, the income reported was received by persons who were members of the family throughout 1959.
A housing unit is "occupied" if it is the usual place of residence of the person or group of persons living in it at the time of enumeration. Included are units occupied by persons who are only temporarily absent, such as persons on vacation. Units occupied by persons with no usual place of residence are also considered occupied.
A housing 'unit is "owner occupied" if the owner or co-owner lives in the unit, even if it is mortgaged or not fully paid for. The head himself need not be the owner. All other occupied units are classified as "renter occupied," whether or not cash rent is paid. Examples of units for which no cash rent is paid include units occupied in exchange for services rendered, units owned by relatives and occupied without payment of rent, and units occupied by sharecroppers.
Value is the respondent's estimate of how much the property would sell for on the current market (April 1960). Value data are restricted to owner- occupied units having only one housing unit in the property and no business. Units in multiunit structures and trailers were excluded from the tabulations, and in rural territory, units on farms and all units on places of 10 acres or more (whether farm or nonfarm) also were excluded.
