Download Income of Families and Persons in the United States: 1960
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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE BUREAU OF THE CENSUS Richard M. Scammon, Director tr H. Hodges, Secretary CURRENT POPULATION REPORTS CONSUMER INCOME January 17, 1962 Washington 25, D .C . Series P-60, No. 37 INCOME OF FAMILIES AND PERSONS IN THE UNITED STATES: 1960 (Advance data on the 1960 income of families and persons were issued in June 1961 in Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 36. Data for 1959 and 1960 include Alaska and Hawaii which were not covered in earlier years) For the country as a whole, the average (median) of approximately 3+ percent. This was about 1 per- income of familiesin1960 was $5,600; but, for families centage point more than the corresponding average rate headed by persons 65 years and over, the average was for the 13-year period since 1947, reflecting the only $2,900, according to estimates released today by marked upswing in economic activity and the introduc- the Bureau of the Census, Department of Comnerce. The tion of a full-employment economy that took place dur- all-family average was $200, or 4 percent, higher than ing the early 1940's. in 1959, despite the downturn in economic activity in In 1960, about 6 million families (groups Of two "-e closing months of 1960. Since prices rose some- or more related persons residing together) received ft between 1959 and 1960, the gain inreal purchasing money incomes of less than $2,000. They comprised power of the median family in the United States, how- 13 percent of the 453 million families in the Nation. ever, was only about 2 percent.' The postwar period has been characterized by a Figure 1.--MEDIAN WAGE OR SALARY INCOME OF PRIMARY significant rise in family incomes and the upward FAMILIES IN CURRENT AND CONSTANT (1960) DOLMS, trend continued into 1960. Since 1947, average .total FOR THE UNITED STATES: 1939, 1947, 1950, AND 1960 family income in current dollars has increased from $3,000 to $5,600, or by 85 percent. However, consumer $6,000 prices have risen substantially during the period so [ CURRENT DOLLARS j 1960 DOLLARS that only about one-half of the increase in current- dollar incomes represented an increase in purchasing power. In terms of constant (1960) dollars, the me- dian family income increased from $4,000 in 1947 to $5,600 in 1960, or by 40 percent. This represented a rate of growth that averaged about 23 percent per year over this period. For the important wage and salary component of family income, it is possible to extend the comparison back to 1939, which was the first year for which data on this subject were collected by the Bureau of the Census. As figure 1 indicates, the median real wage and salary income of primary families in the United States has doubled between 1939 and 1960, up from $2,700 to $5,400 (with incomes in both years expressed in 1960 dollars). The rise over the 21-year period as a whole represented an average annual rate of groneh ' The Consumer Price Index of the Department of Labor averaged 124.6 in 1959 and 126.5 in 1960. For sale by the Bureau of the Cens~s,dashington 25, D.C. Price 53 cents. Annual subscription (Series P-20, P-23, P-25, P-27, and P-60, combinej), $3.03. Approximately 2 million of them were families in which preceding year. Reflecting in part the rise in avel the head was 65 years or over, about 1 million were age hourly earnings of factory workers during 1960, families in which the head was a woman under 65, and the median income of males employed in manufacturing another 1 million were rural-farm families headed by a in the survey week was $5,500 in that year, up $340 man under 65. Together these three groups accounted from 1959. Related to the rise in family income be- for about seven-tenths of the total number of families tween 1959 and 1960 noted earlier, the average per- in the range under $2,000 (derived from table D and sonal income of male heads of families rose by $210 to records). $4,900 in 1960. Males in the age groups 35 to 44 and The income range between $2,000 and $3,000 in- 45 to 54, most of whom are family heads, reported gains in median income over the previous year of 4 and cluded 4 million families, or 9 percent of the total, 7 percent, respectively. and the broader range from $3,000 to $5,000 accounted for another 9 million, or 20 percent. Families with At $1,300, the median income of women in 1960 was incomes between $5,000 and $7,000 numbered 11 million, substantially the same as in the years 1957 to 1959, or 24 percent of the to3al. About 153 million, or and up only one-fourth (in terms of current dollars) one-third of all families, received incomes of $7,000 from 1947. This contrasted with the trend in the or more. Of these, approximately 9 million had in- average income of men which has increased by about comes between $7,000 and $10,000, and 6h million, or five-sixths over the same period. Part of the reason 14 percent of all families, received $10,000 and over for the low median income of women relative to men is (table A, derived from table 1). the small proportion of female income recipients with year-round full-time work. However, even among year- Table A.--NUMEZQ OF FAMILIES BY FAMILY INCOW, round Lull-time workers, the average income of women FOR THE UNITED STATES: 1960 was substantially less than that of men, $3,300 as compared with $5,400. Family income Nmber of families The proportion of women receiving income contin- ued its marked postwar rise in 1960, reaching 56 per- Total.... ........................... cent in that year as compared with only 39 percent in Wer $1 000 .............................. 1947. Furthermore, the proportion of these recipients $1 000 t: $1,999 .......................... 3,613,000 $2'000 to $2,999.. ........................ 3,970,000 reporting incomes of $3,000 and over has risen from $3:000 to $3,999 .......................... 4,456,000 5 percent to 23 percent during the same period. The $4,000 to $4,999 .......................... 4,773,m $5 000 to $5,999 .......................... 5,839,000 increase in the number of female income recipiep. $6'000 to $6,999 .......................... 4,889,000 paralleled the rise in the labor force participati~ $7:000 to $7,999 .......................... 3,973,000 $8 CW to $9,999 .......................... 5,135,000 rates of women during the postwar years and reflected $16,000 to $14,999 ........................ 4,795,000 also the substantial increase in the number receiving $15,000 and over. ......................... 1,707,OM) social insurance benefits. These are some of the highlights from the inquiry A comparison of the family income distribution on consumer income in 1960 made in March 1961 in con- for 1960 with the corresponding figures for 1959 in- nection with the Bureau's Current Population Survey. dicates that there was a net upward shift of about The survey covered the civilian noninstitutional pop- 1 million families from income brsckets below $7,000 ulation and members of the Armed Forces living off to the range above $7,000 on the current-dollar income post or with their families on post in the United scale. Gains in average family income between 1959 States. Income statistics for 1959 collected by the and 1960 were generally confjned to families whose Bureau of the Census in the 1960 Census of Population heads were year-round full-time workers, i.e., persons have been published for selected States but are not who worked primarily at full-time jobs for 50 weeks or yet available for the United States as a whole. A more during the year. The median family income of smary of the various types of income data that will this group was $6,600 in 1960, up $240 from the cor- be available from the decennial census is provided in responding average in 1959. In contrast, incomes of the section on "Related reports" on page 12. families with heads who worked only part of the year Data on consumer income collected by the Bureau or did not work at all during 1960 averaged $3,600, not significantly different from the previous year. of the Census cover money income only, prior to deduc- About one-third of these part-year workers and non- tions fortaxes. The fact that many farmers receive an important part of their income in the form of goods workers gave unemployment or layoffasthe major reason produced and consumed on the farm rather than in money for their inactivity in 1960. This proportion was up should be taken into considerationincomparing the in- slightly from 1959. come of farm and nonfarm residents. The median income of men was $4,100 in 1960, not significantly greater than in 1959. However, a rise The median income is the amount which divides the in average income of about $200, to a record high of distribution into two equal groups, one having incomes $5,400, was reported by men who worked 50 weeks or above the median and the other having incomes below more at full-time jobs. This group comprised about the median. In comparing income data for 1960 wit,h three-fifths of male income recipients in 1960. For those for previous years, account should be taken other males with work experience in 1460, incomes av- the fact that changes in income were accompanied eraged approximately $2,100, about the same as in the changes in prices.