The tables presented here are preprints of portions of tables 14, 15, and 16 from Final Report PC(2)-6C, which contains additional information on the characteristics of members of the labor reserve.

In 1960, over 21.8 million persons, or 17 percent of the population l4 years old and over, were members of the labor reserve, defined as those persons not in the labor force at the time of enumeration but with work experience within the preceding ten years (since 1950). Women outnumbered men in the labor reserve by more than 2 to 1, totaling some 15 million members compared with slightly fewer than 7 million male members.

The average age of the women (33.4 years) was 26 years younger than the average age of the men (59.8 years). Teenagers and persons over 65 years of age made up 63 percent of the men but only 17 percent of the women. Besides being younger, the women members had received more formal education than their men counterparts, having completed an average of 12.0 years of school contrasted with 8.8 school years completed by the men.

The labor reserve includes more women than men. This is quite understandable since most men in their productive years are still participating in the labor force. For example, the labor force participation rate in 1960 for men between the ages of 25 and 64 was 92.5 percent. The labor force participation pattern for women, however, is quite different. Labor force participation declines for women in their twenties as many women leave their job to take on family responsibilities and do not return to the work force until the children are well into their school years. Thus, women constitute the source of greatest potential growth in the labor force for the Nation.

The PDF to the right contains the 12-page report.