countries, for example, have reacted to this situation by adopting policies of frequent review and action, ranging from regular annual or periodic study and adjustment as in England (six times from 1950 to 1958) to "automatic" quarterly adjustment as in France. In the latter case, where currency inflation has been severe, reliance was placed for some years after World War II on special laws to obtain adjustments in veteran pension rates to keep up with the progress of inflation. The Director of Pensions finally commented on this as follows: "The war victims were weary of the procedure which was at times supplemented by demonstrations, in which they were obliged to engage whenever they had to obtain a readjustment that was more or less debatable regarding amount and date of effectiveness. In 1953 war pension adjustments were tied to Civil Service salary adjustments, which were in turn automatically adjusted to changes in the cost of living. In some years inflation has been so rapid, encompassing a price level rise of over 50 percent in a recent five-year period, that adjustments were made quarterly and finally caused the Director to complain of the administrative burden and expense. 'Conclusion The importance of this situation to the aging population, including veterans aged 65 and over, in the United States has been increasingly recognized and in January 1960 the Senate Subcommittee on Problems of the Aged and Aging recommended careful study and consideration of proposals to protect the purchasing power of retirement income by such means as the issuance of Government constant purchasing power bonds for retirement purposes. The impact of the inflation factor on payments to veterans and adjustments which have been made, at least in part, to compensate for it have been the subject of legislative inquiry and action on occasions in the past. The situation would now appear to warrant special and periodic examination and planning with particular reference to the growing veteran population aged 65 and over which is dependent on relatively fixed incomes, and in connection with new proposals on this account. THE ECONOMIC NEED QUALIFICATION The increasing assumption by Government agencies of income and other maintenance responsibility in the group of the population aged 65 and over has made the determination of qualification standards of critical importance. Such standards are necessary not only from the standpoint of determining the degree of responsibility to be assumed and the extent to which funds and facilities are to be made available but in the administration of authorized programs. In the case of the veteran aged 65 and over both the provision of some degree of income maintenance and the qualification for hospitalization, domiciliation, or other care involve either legislative or administrative reference to the "need" status of the individuals or families concerned. Some background review is essential to an appreciation of its economic significance in such specific applications. Development of the need concept The national economy of the United States has been increasingly modified as governmental powers have been invoked to alter the distribution of income from the patterns established by free-market forces to those more in accord with planned politico-economic welfare goals. Thus we have seen progressively established and developing Federal Government 'intervention" in such economic as international trade controls, agricultural parity prices and income, mineral price supports, minimum wage rates, compulsory saving for social security, and public assistance. areas Over a period of time the primary objectives of such programs have been shifting from the stimulation or alteration of relationships involving producer groups to providing support for the social and economic welfare of individuals as consumers. In the conception and development of programs in the latter connection, the starting point is usually some concept of individual or family "need. The first comprehensive Federal Government review of basic individuals' economic need was made immediately after World War I when the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted a study to determine the cost of maintaining a low-salaried employee of the Federal Government in Washington. Three levels of living standards were recognized. First was the "pauper or poverty" level at which families were maintaining themselves just above that requiring charity help or were exhausting such financial reserves as they might have. Second was the "minimum of subsistence" standard which was set to maintain simply the physical life of the family. The third, called the "minimum of health and comfort" standard, provided for the material needs of food, shelter, and clothing of the quantity and quality which would maintain bodily comfort and maintain a position of self-respect and decency, with some provision to meet important misfortunes and for the education of children and self-development. After World War II, in 1946, a "moderate standard" budget was developed by the Social Security Administration specifically for older people retired or only occasionally employed. This was based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics standards with adjustment for the differences in the costs of medical care and other items of a changing nature and importance in the aging person's budget as compared with that of the population as a whole as represented by the city worker's family budget. The need concept in public assistance The establishment of the Federal Government's public assistance program gave a new impetus to the search for a fair and practical concept and measurement of economic need, giving rise to an intensive country-wide effort on this score. The different States were required to define their need standards to qualify for Federal contributions to their programs of this type. While some have additional qualifying statements, the following were the basic definitions in use in 1959 in this connection in over nine-tenths of the States: "has insufficient income or other resources to provide reasonable subsistence compatible with decency and health"; "has insufficient income and resources to maintain a reasonable standard of health and well-being"; "has insufficient income or resources to live within a reasonable standard of living''; "income insufficient for purchase of items of maintenance on a reasonable subsistence level"; "basic maintenance statutory amount of $90 is provided, with specific needs considered for additional sums"; "assistance plus other income shall equal statutory minimum of $60 for one recipient, $45 for each of two or more recipients.' Other definitions in use run the gamut from "sufficient to meet basic needs and permit a life of self-respect, health and dignity" and “what is necessary for health, efficiency, the nurture of children, and for participation in community activities" to the abovementioned "reasonable subsistence level." With all due allowance for the differences in the cost of the same standard package of goods and services from one State to another, it is obvious that there is also a difference in the approach to basic needs in the amounts provided by the different States under public assistance programs. State variations in the monetary valuation of need A wide variation is found in the monthly costs standards for basic individual and family needs established by the State agencies which administer the public assistance program. In 1959 for a couple keeping house in rented quarters the median for the United States as a whole was $129. However, the range among the 50 States and the District of Columbia was from $78 to $200. For an elderly man living alone and keeping house, the United States median was $85, with an individual States range from $53 to $125. An even wider variation appears in the allowable property maximum limit to qualify under the need requirement for eligibility, which ranges from leaving the matter to local determination or none to the allowance of a homestead or $10,000. Not only is such wide variation found in the eligibility requirements, but it also occurs in the level of assistance paid to provide for basic needs. The current national average monthly payment of just over $65 represents a range in State averages from under $30 to over $110, with greater differences in the allowance of the cost of special needs of older persons, such as the cost of nursing home care or other special living arrangements, transportation, the cost of telephone, and other items important to individual living and normal aspects of social participation. In the face of such diversity and in the absence of any wholly satisfactory universally applicable formula, it is obvious that any one specific income or other need measurement becomes less and less significant to individual cases with increasing numbers of persons of different ages, employment capacities and opportunities, geographic locations, and whether on city or farm, who are included in the group to which payments are made. Progressively, from the local area to the State, regional and national areas, the averages must cover increasing diversity. This accounts in part for the general tendency of Federal programs to provide payments uniformly throughout the country in some cases, such as veterans' compensation and pensions, and to match funds provided from Stäte and local sources which take local conditions more into account in other cases such as public assistance. Since aging veterans' payments and benefits supplied by the Federal Government are based on service to the country as a whole, they are ordinarily paid in accordance with criteria that are uniform for the country as a whole, as will be seen in connection with the applications of the need concept in specific aging veterans' programs considered later in this study. Chapter III EMPLOYMENT AND SELF-SUPPORT AGING VETERANS AND THE LABOR FORCE Physical condition and employability MARITAL STATUS AND LABOR FORCE PARTICIPA- OCCUPATIONS EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND EXPERIENCE Veterans employment service UNEMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT Continuation in employment after age 65 is in the United States a matter for individual decision within the framework of the individual's capabilities and available opportunities of a suitable nature, time and place in relation to alternatives which may be more compelling. For example, decision may be forced by lack of suitable employment opportunities or may be based on the fact that in a given case a suitable opportunity may not be available within a reasonable distance of the domicile which takes precedence because of the aging person's family living arrangements. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that participation in the labor force, employment and the occupational distribution of those aged 65 and over is determined by their basic decision as to whether to continue in income-producing employment or not, and if so and opportunities are available, their attempt to maximize returns by taking advantage of previous occupational experience or shifting to an activity within the limits of diminishing capabilities. Precise statistical measurement of the numbers and qualifications of the population aged 65 and over, including veterans, in the labor force and of those employed is not possible because of these changing decisions. They may result in temporary acceptance of a locally available short-term job to supplement income or occupy otherwise economically idle time with no intention of regular employment, or they may encompass occasional or part-time occupation or other limited engagement, as well as substantial income-producing regular work. |