Figure 2: PERCENTAGE OF MALE WHITE AND NONWHITE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES, 18 TO 64 YEARS OLD, IN SELECTED OCCUPATION GROUPS: 1960

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Census of Population: 1960, Vol. II, Part 78.

Figure 3: ESTIMATED LIFETIME EARNINGS OF WHITE AND NONWHITE MALES BY LEVEL OF SCHOOL COMPLETED (EARNINGS RECEIVED FROM AGE 18 TO 64)

Source: Derived from U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Census of Population: 1960, Vol. II, Part 78.

Figure 4: AVERAGE EARNINGS IN 1959 OF MALE ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES, 25 TO 64 YEARS OLD, IN SELECTED OCCUPATION GROUPS

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Census of Population: 1960, Vol. II, Part 78.

$7,000

Graduates

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Census of Population: 1960, Vol. II, Part 7B.

APPENDIX TABLES ON ESTIMATED LIFETIME EARNINGS FOR MALES IN SELECTED OCCUPATIONS

PROCEDURE USED TO ESTIMATE LIFETIME EARNINGS

Estimates of lifetime earnings provide an insight into the financial returns associated with occupation, education, and color which cannot be readily obtained from data on annual earnings. The figures in the appendix tables are estimates derived from 1960 census data showing variations in the arithmetic mean earnings of males classified by age, color, region, years of school completed, and occupation. The basic source data used to prepare the estimates of lifetime earnings appear in U.S. Census of Population: 1960, volume II, part 7B, “Occupation by Earnings and Education." The figures are, therefore, based on the earnings of a cross section of the male population in 1959 and do not actually trace the earnings of individuals from the time they start to work until retirement. Standard life-table techniques were used to compute estimated lifetime earnings. The actual life tables used are shown below. The following is a step-bystep description of the procedure used to obtain the estimate for all males in the experienced civilian labor force:

Step. 1. Out of every 100,000 male children born in 1959, 95,716
could expect to survive to age 18.

Step 2. Out of 95,716 who survive to 18, 94,591 will survive
to age 24. Between the ages of 18 and 24 they will have lived
666,226 man-years. Assume that each year they receive aver-
age (mean) earnings of $2,731. (This is the arithmetic mean
earnings reported in the 1960 census for men 18 to 24 years
old.) Total expected earnings from age 18 to 24 is--
Step 3. Out of 94,591 who survive to age 24, about 93,029 can
be expected to survive to age 34. Between the ages of 25 and
34 they will have lived 937,542 man-years. Assuming average
earnings of $5,188 per year (the amount reported in the census
for men 25 to 34 years old) their total expected earning dur-
ing this period is---.

Step 4. Out of the 93,029 who survive to age 34, 89,888 can be
expected to survive to age 44. Their total man-years of life
during this period will be 913,545. Assuming an average earn-
ings of $6,259 for each year gives them a total expected earn-
ings of..

Step 5. Out of 89,888 who survive to age 44, 82,082 can be expected to survive to age 54. Their total man-years of life during this period will be 857,620. Assuming average earnings of $6,194 for each year, gives them a total expected earnings of....

$1,800, 000, 000

4, 900, 000, 000

5, 700, 000, 000

5, 300, 000, 000

Step 6. Out of 82,082 who survive to 54 years, 66,195 can be expected to survive to age 64. Their total man-years during this period will be 732,320. Assuming average earnings of $5,737 for each year gives them a total expected earnings of. 4, 200, 000, 000 Step 7. Adding up all of the amounts listed above leads to the conclusion that the 95,716 men who reached age 18 would have earned about $21.9 billion during their lifetime. The average for each one was therefore____

229, 000

Estimated number of man-years lived at each age by survivors of 100,000 male infants born alive in 1959

Source: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, "Vital Statistics of the United States 1959," section 5.