Marital status has a bearing on the extent and continuation of participation of aging veterans in the labor force. On the basis of available data which are presented in table 14, it is apparent that the bulk of these veterans living into advanced ages are married, with wife present. A major change in the proportion of this group and single veterans in relation to those widowed or separated takes place between the ages 65 and 75.

TABLE 14

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION BY AGING
MALE VETERANS, BY MARITAL STATUS
March 1959

Increasing widowhood as aging veterans grow older, and an apparent tendency of single aging veterans to drop out of the labor force in this period, account primarily for this trend. In view of the new level of importance of cash income in maintaining an accustomed level of living, and the decline or readjustment of home ties after widowhood, the social and economic position of the aging veteran undergoes a sharp change at that time. Further information is needed for a full appraisal of the significance of this period in the problems of economic support of the aging veteran.

OCCUPATIONS

The occupational pattern of the veteran group aged 65 and over appears to be similar to that of the corresponding male population aging group with the exception of some minor variations based upon the type of physical limitations. The relative importance of self-employment rises rapidly with advancing age. Nearly half of the men 65 and over, including veterans, classified as employed have been self-employed or unpaid family workers on farms in recent years. Over half in 1959 were in the following occupations: farmers and farm managers, salaried managers and self-employed proprietors, and foremen and craftsmen.

TABLE 15

OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYED MALE
POPULATION AGED 65 AND OVER
QUARTERLY AVERAGE, 1959

Marital status also is a factor related to the occupations of the male population 65 and over, including veterans. A higher proportion of single men are in the professional, technical and kindred employments on one hand and in the laborer group on the other, whereas there is a lower proportion of aging single men in the salaried and self-employed, except farm, group. EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND EXPERIENCE

Over a third of the aging (65 and over) veterans, or about 500,000, worked primarily full time and about 15 percent part time in 1958. The entry and exit of individuals into and out of the employed group is continuous and the nature and extent of their employment is also changing, so that meaningful generalizations are difficult. One aspect is clear: the proportion of the veteran population aged 65 and over with employment declines progressively with advancing age within this aging group. While in general this is the logical expectation, not enough is known in detail about the who, why, when, where of the situation as a basis for judgment and public policy and program decision. Efforts to meet this data need are in process.

Meanwhile, it may be noted that the present measure of the rate of decline of employment, including self-employment, with advancing age within the group in the case of the primarily full time workers is from about 45 percent in the 65 to 69 ages to about 20 percent in the case of those 70 and over. While veterans within the group working part time are also constantly changing, the proportion of the employed so engaged is rather constant at just under 15 percent.

It should be borne in mind that progressively during each of the 10-year spans covered by the average data for these age groups, declining physical condition has affected both employability and the kind of employment within physical capacities. Some idea of the degree to which this takes place is indicated by the data for the proportion of the 65 and over male population usually working by age classification within the group (Table 16) and the proportion of those still working who have chronic physical disability conditions with work limitation. The latter rises from about 22 per cent in the age group 55 to 64, to about half of those still working in the age group 75 and over.

TABLE 17

MALE WORLD WAR I AND SPANISH AMERICAN WAR VETERANS USUALLY WORKING, BY AGE, JULY 1957 - JUNE 1958

Other

Number of Usually Usually Working
Veterans Working with Work Limitation* (percent)
(thousands) (percent)

Age Class

(percent)

CHART XII

PROPORTION OF AGING MALE VETERANS WORKING AS MAJOR ACTIVITY,1957-1958

Unemployment strikes with greater frequency and is more extensive in the aging group as a whole. Men 65 and over normally employed in establishments with 8 or more employees each in early 1956 showed four times the rate of unemployment of those below this age.

In March 1959 a Census survey indicated minimal unemployment of aging veterans, but the definitions of employment used to meet some uses of the data made them of little significance as measures of economic status or of need arising from any lack of suitable employment.

Reemployment problems of the aging veteran

After leaving an established position, whether the reason be the retirement policy or the termination of the need for his services by the current employer, or whether the action results from a voluntary decision by the aging veteran to make a change involving his employment, it appears that with advancing age finding new employment becomes more difficult.

Entrance on a new job involves not only a condition of physical and mental fitness but the possession of the skills and capabilities in demand in the area with remuneration or other attractions great enough to induce the aging individual to prepare, if necessary, for alternatives through retaining or otherwise. In the latter connection a study of counseling and placement services for older workers by the Bureau of Employment Security in 1956 indicated that about 40 percent of those placed through its service were shifted to a new occupational group and nearly twothirds of the remainder changed industrial divisions within the Occupational group.