According to a Census Bureau study, the average male veteran today has completed high school and has gone ahead for some college. On the other hand, the average male nonveteran, in the same age bracket, has been able to finish just a little more than 2 years of high school. One reason for the difference in educational achievement, the Census Bureau states, has been "the advantage of educational privileges under the GI bill." Another survey, also conducted by the Census Bureau, showed that in 1947 the median income of male veterans between 25 and 34 years of age was only $2,401. That same year, the median income of nonveterans in the same age group was higher-$2,585. Six years later, the median income of veterans rose 51 percent, to $3,631. Nonveterans' income, over the same period, showed only a 19-percent increase to $3,065. The Census Bureau said: "The higher incomes of these veterans may reflect the combined influence of the increase in work experience and the higher level of education which veterans have achieved as compared with nonveterans." Attributing only part of the increased earnings of veterans to the GI bill, those who have had GI training will be paying approximately $1 billion more each year in Federal income tax. Or, within the next 15 years, they will have paid for the entire program. VA recalled its experience in administering the GI bill readjustment allowance program for unemployed veterans. During the life of the program, VA said, nearly 9 million veterans drew allowances totaling $3.2 billion for unemployment and $600 million for self-employment, during periods when self-employed veterans were netting less than $100 a month. Only 900,000 veterans, or 10 percent of the total, exhausted their full rights to this benefit. The average veteran was on the readjustment allowance rolls for only 6 weeks. VA files are filled with case histories of veterans who successfully made the leap from military to civilian life with the help of GI bill benefits. In Stephens, Ark., Floyd T. Bryan, ex-Navy veteran, obtained a GI business loan from a bank so that he could buy a bank in a small community where oil had just been struck. Since that time, Bryan's bank has made loans to hundreds of other veterans. "They're the best business on my books," he says. In Topeka, Kans., Douglas K. Counsellor, former Army Air Force corporal, used two GI bill benefits-on-the-job training and a business loan-to establish a successful auto fabric business. After completing his training, he decided to buy out the firm in which he had trained. He did so with a $4,000 GI business loan. In New York City, an Army veteran, Floyd T. Gould, is now at work at Brookhaven National Laboratories, performing vital basic research in atomic energy. Coming out of service in 1946, Gould tried working in a laundry; then selling soap from laundry to laundry; then studying typing so that he could try for a job as a clerk; then television repair. None of these was successful. He came to the VA and applied for vocational counseling, in preparation for enrolling in training under the GI bill. Counseling tests and interviews revealed that Gould was excellent college material; furthermore, that he had a natural bent for science. So he entered college. He won his master's degree and is about to acquire his Ph. D. in atomic physics, with brilliant grades. Also, because of his scholastic record, he was able to obtain the important research post at Brookhaven. VA said the 10-year-old GI bill has been a program for World War II veterans only. Its achievements belong entirely to America's generation of World War II veterans now averaging the middle thirties, with memories of wartime years growing a little dimmer as each year goes by. A new GI bill was enacted in 1952 for veterans on active duty after June 27, 1950, the date of the outbreak of hostilities in Korea. This law, too, provides benefits similar to those which were contained in the original GI bill-education and training, GI loans, unemployment pay. But it's too early to measure the accomplishments of this new GI bill, VA said. More time must elapse before its full impact on veterans, and on the Nation, can be evaluated. In the Veterans' Administration "Future release, Tuesday morning papers, June 22, 1954," concerning 10th anniversary of the GI bill the seventh paragraph on page 5 should read: "The average veteran was on the readjustment allowance rolls for 19 weeks." [Submitted by the Veterans' Administration] MAY 29, 1959. Subject: Characteristics of post-Korean conflict ex-service men and women. 1. The following estimates are based on our 1 percent sample of Armed Forces separations and relate to characteristics of the estimated 687,000 men and women who had entered the Armed Forces for the first time after January 31, 1955, and had returned to civil life by December 31, 1958. (a) Sex and race: (b) Age: (1) Ninety-eight percent are male; 2 percent are female. (2) Eighty-seven percent are white; 13 percent are nonwhite. (1) As of December 31, 1958, their average (mean) age was 23 years; their median age was 22.2 years. At the time of their separation from the Armed Forces, their average age had been 22 years; their median age had been 21.2 years. (2) When they returned to civil life, 80 percent were between the ages of 19 and 25 years. Only 9 percent were over age 25 at time of separation; 11 percent were under age 19. (c) Service record: (1) The percentage of these separations from all the Armed Forces that occurred annually were as follows: Percent (2) Five percent had been commissioned officers in the Armed Forces. (d) Marital status: (1) At the time of separation, 72 percent of the men were single, 27 percent were married, and 1 percent were widowed or divorced; 42 percent of the women were single, 55 percent were married, and 3 percent were widowed or divorced. (2) Fewer than 5 percent of those under 19 years of age were married; 60 percent of those aged 26 to 29 were married, and more than 75 percent of those over 30 years of age were married. (e) Educational status: (1) At the time of their separation from the Armed Forces, 6 percent had not completed elementary school; 10 percent had completed elementary school, but had no further schooling; 29 percent had some high school education, but had not graduated; 35 percent had graduated from high school, but had no college training; 8 percent had complete 1, 2, or 3 years of college work; 12 percent had completed 4 or more years of college. (2) Only 16 percent of those under 19 years of age had completed high school, and 24 percent of this age group had no high school education at all. (f) Length of service: (1) Forty-four percent had entered the Armed Forces in 1955, and the majority separated after having served 18 months or more. (2) Only 5 percent had entered service during 1958-they had been separated by the end of the year mainly for physical disability, hardship, or unsuitability. (3) Of those peacetime ex-servicemen under 19 years of age, 54 percent served only 6 months or less, and 12 percent served 18 months or more. (4) These ex-servicemen served an average (mean) of 20 months in the Armed Forces; 10 percent served less than 3 months; 20 percent served from 3 to 17 months; 25 percent served from 18 to 23 months; 25 percent served 24 months; 10 percent served from 25 to 35 months; and 10 percent served 36 months or more. The percentage who served 36 months or more will increase gradually over the next few years, as peacetime servicemen completing 3- and 4-year enlistments return to civil life. The average length of service also will gradually increase. It is estimated the average length of service of all peacetime separations by June 30, 1959, will be 22 months, and by June 30, 1960, will be about 25 months. 2. More detailed information is contained in the tables attached. Age at time of separation, by color and sex, of post-Korean exservicemen and women1 who returned to civil life through Dec. 31, 1958 1 No service before Feb. 1, 1955, and separated by Dec. 31, 1958. Branch of service and officer-enlisted status of men and women1 separated through Dec. 31, 1958 |