: OF COMMERCE W. AVERELL HARRIMAN, Secretary J. C. CAPT, Director Females had a slightly higher level of educational attainment (as measured by median years of school completed) than males. Although the proportion of college graduates was higher among males, relatively more males also had dropped out with no more than grade school training while a higher proportion of females had completed high school. The general pattern of differences in educational attainment between males and females is similar to that which was indicated by the 1940 data. The median number of school years completed by persons in the younger age groups (20 to 29 years old) was about 12 years, representing the completion of high school. This level represents an increase of about four years of schooling over that reported by the population who completed their schooling a little more than a generation ago (those 55 to 64 years old). The general pattern among adults of a higher educational level at successively younger ages reflects the historic trend toward more and more schooling. The educational attainment of those persons now 20 to 24 years old is likely to improve somewhat in the future. Even in normal times, an appreciable proportion of persons of this age are still completing their education, and at present adult education is widely prevalent. The figures shown in this report relate primarily to the civilian population. Approximately 254,000 members of the armed forces living off post or with their families on post were included, but all other members of the armed forces were excluded. For simplicity the population covered is called the "civilian population" in this report. The estimates presented in this report are preliminary and are based on data from a survey made in April, 1947, covering a representative national sample of the civilian population. Since these estimates are based on sample data, they may differ from the figures that would have been obtained from a complete census. The sampling variation may be relatively large in cases where the quantities shown are small. Therefore, the smaller estimates should be used with caution. The reliability of an estimated percentage depends upon both the size of the percentage and the size of the total on which it is based. A more complete statement on the variations due to sampling will be presented in a subsequent report showing more detail on the educational attainment of the civilian population. Data on the years of school completed by the civilian population 20 years old and over, by age and sex, are presented in the following table. (over) YEARS OF SCHOOL COMPLETED BY THE CIVILIAN POPULATION 20 YEARS OLD AND OVER, BY AGE AND SEX, FOR THE UNITED STATES: APRIL, 1947 2,099,000 11,713,000 369,000 554,000 1,661,000 2,907,000 11,554,000 489,000 539,000 1,921,000 2,618,000 11,073,600 526,000 582,000 2,481,000 2,379,000 The quest for education by veterans reached a new Ligh in April, 1947, when veterans comprised nine out of every ten males aged 20 to 29 years who were enrolled in the schools and colleges of the Nation, according to estimates issued today y J. C. Capt, Lirector, Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce. About 1,200,000 veter ans 20 to 29 years old, or one-seventh of the veterans in this age group, were in school or college in April, 1947, most of them presumably taking advantage of the educational provisions of the "G. I. Bill of Rights." As a result, the proportion of young men enrolled in school or college now far exceeds prewar levels. The proportion of the population enrolled in school in April, 1947, was highest in the age group 10 to 13 years, in which about 98 percent of all children were enrolled in school. In the ages under 18 years, the proportions of males and females enrolled in school were about the same; whereas in the older age groups the predominance of males increased with age. In the 25-to-29-year group approximately seven percent of all males were enrolled as compared with only one percent of females. The continuing high level of marriage and employment, coupled with the large veteran enrollment in the colleges, nas tended to limit the number of women who enroll in institutions of higher education. The school enrollment statistios in this report are based on the replies to the enumerator's inquiry as to whether the person had been enrolled at any time since March 1 in any type of day or night school, public, parochial, or other private school in the regular school system. Such schools include elementary schools (but not Kindergartens), Junior or senior high schools, The estimates presented in this report are preliminary and are based on data from a survey made in April, 1947, covering a representative national sample of the civilian population. Since these estimates are based on sample data, they may differ from the figures that would have been obtained from a complete census. The sapling variation may be relatively large in cases where the quantities shown are small. Therefore, the smaller estimates should be used with caution. The reliability of an estimated percentage depends upon both the size of the percentage and the size of the total on which it is based. A more complete statement on the variations e to sampling will be presented in subsequent report presenting more detailed data on SCL.CO. enrollment. Data on the school enrollment of the civiliar population 5 to 29 years of age, by veter status, age, and sex, are presented in the following table. (over) SCHOOL ENROLLMENT OF THE CIVILIAN POPULATION 5 TO 29 YEARS OLD, BY VETERAN STATUS, AGE, AND SEX, FOR THE UNITED STATES: APRIL, 1947 The manner in which the fertility of the Nation's population increased during the war and immediate postwar period has been a matter for much speculation by population students. Various theories have been advanced as to why the birth rate increased instead of declining during the war. The subject is important since the past trend of the birth rate had been one of nearly continuous decline for over a century, until the fertility of the population became inadequate for permanent population maintenance in the depression decade of the thirties. This report presents the results of the first study of the differential fertility of the population by social and economic characteristics made by the Bureau since the last census, taken in 1940. The study is based on data on children under 5 years old rather than data on births. These children were born between June, 1941, and June, 1946. The data were obtained from the monthly sample survey of the civilian noninstitutional population made in June, 1946. Summary.--Between April, 1940, and June, 1946, there was an increase of about 2,800,000 in the child population under 5 years old. There were 10,541,524 children under 5 in 1940 and an estimated 13,361,000 in 1946, including children in institutions. It is estimated that about half, 46 percent, of the increase in number of children was due to higher fertility among married women. About 26 percent of the gain came from a greater proportion married among women at most ages, 22 percent came from the presence of more women at the most fertile childbearing ages, and 6 percent came from reduction in infant mortality. Children under 5 years old in June, 1946, were survivors of births originating in the 5-year period ending about a month after V-J Day and thus reflect mainly wartime conditions. Inductions of men into the armed forces drew most heavily on childless and unmarried men, but there were nonetheless several million married men among the more than 12,000,000 men who served during the war. Allotments to dependents of servicemen, the Emergency Maternity and Infant Care Program (which gave free maternal care and hospitalization to wives of servicemen), and occasional furloughs were factors that tended partly to offset the effect of wartime separation of husbands and wives. More than 1,000,000 maternity cases were handled by the Emergency Maternity and Infant Care Program, and of course some married servicemen had children before induction. By June, 1946, when most of the servicemen had been discharged, veterans of World War II had about 3,120,000 of those children under 5 years old who were living with their fathers. The nonveterans at this date had about 8,656,000 such children. Age for age, nonveterans averaged more own children under 5 in the household than veterans, using as a base either the total number of men or the number of married men. The wartime increase in childbearing was about twice as great in urban areas as in rural areas, so that fertility rose more where it was originally lower. Not all age groups in the childbearing ages participated in the increase, however. Women in their forties averaged fewer young children in 1946 than in 1940. The general pattern of changes since 1940 in fertility by age of woman was of such a nature as to indicate that moderate-sized families gained in frequency at the expense of both the very small and the very large families. Continuance of the fertility and mortality conditions of the period from June, 1941, to June, 1946, would eventually augment the national population by about a fifth in each generation, |