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 Step 2. Out of 95,716 who survive to 18, 94,591 will survive Step 4. Out of the 93,029 who survive to age 34, 89,888 can be 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. TABLE 1.-Estimated lifetime earnings for males in the experienced civilian labor force, by years of school completed, color, and region, for selected occupations [Earnings from age 18 to 64 years. Thousands of dollars. These data are from Herman P. Miller, Trends in Income Distribution in the United States; 1960 Census Monograph being prepared under the joint sponsorship of the Bureau of the Census and the Social Science Research Council] TABLE 1.-Estimated lifetime earnings for males in the experienced civilian labor force, by years of school completed, color, and region, for selected occupations-Continued [Earnings from age 18 to 64 years. Thousands of dollars. These data are from Herman P. Miller, Trends in Income Distribution in the United States; 1960 Census Monograph being prepared under the joint sponsorship of the Bureau of the Census and the Social Science Research Council] Ratio of nonwhite to white TABLE 1.-Estimated lifetime earnings for males in the experienced civilian labor force, by years of school completed, color, and region, for selected occupations-Continued [Earnings from age 18 to 64 years. Thousands of dollars. These data are from Herman P. Miller, Trends in Income Distribution in the United States; 1960 Census Monograph being prepared under the joint sponsorship of the Bureau of the Census and the Social Science Research Council] |