Table 1. Sample characteristics, 2003 Survey of Retired Military.
All males over 40 | Officers | Enlisted men | No VA disability | Some VA disability | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average age | 56.5 | 59.1 | 55.2 | 55.9 | 57.0 |
Average years on active duty | 22.8 | 24.0 | 22.1 | 22.3 | 23.1 |
Average age at retirement | 43.1 | 45.6 | 41.7 | 42.4 | 43.5 |
Average age at enlistment | 20.3 | 21.7 | 19.6 | 20.1 | 20.4 |
Average years of education: | |||||
At entering military | 12.8 | 14.6 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 12.8 |
At retirement | 15.2 | 18.0 | 13.7 | 15.2 | 15.2 |
At survey | 15.8 | 18.4 | 14.5 | 15.8 | 15.9 |
Percent acquiring education during service | 77.4 | 80.8 | 75.5 | 74.9 | 79.0 |
Percent acquiring education after retirement | 30.2 | 15.0 | 38.1 | 25.9 | 33.0 |
Percent officer at retirement | 34.4 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 34.8 | 34.1 |
Average labor earnings, earners | $53,201 | $76,021 | $41,440 | $56,964 | $50,296 |
Percent earners | 73.8 | 72.5 | 74.4 | 79.7 | 69.7 |
Average household income | $91,794 | $127,448 | $73,115 | $96,495 | $88,640 |
Percent who own home | 88.1 | 93.3 | 85.3 | 87.5 | 88.4 |
Average VA disability percent rating | 28.2 | 26.7 | 29.0 | 0.0 | 47.1 |
Percent with any VA disability rating | 59.8 | 59.3 | 60.1 | 0.0 | 100.0 |
Health (Percent reporting): | |||||
Fair or poor self-reported health | 27.6 | 18.9 | 32.2 | 11.6 | 38.3 |
Ever had work limitations | 45.4 | 38.7 | 48.9 | 18.1 | 63.7 |
Ever left a job for health reasons | 11.0 | 6.4 | 13.5 | 3.5 | 16.1 |
Any difficulty seeing | 45.9 | 38.6 | 49.7 | 36.0 | 52.5 |
Any difficulty hearing | 57.4 | 56.4 | 57.9 | 46.7 | 64.5 |
Any difficulty walking | 32.1 | 26.1 | 35.2 | 12.8 | 45.0 |
Any difficulty lifting 10 lbs | 27.2 | 21.3 | 30.3 | 9.6 | 39.0 |
Any of these 4 difficulties | 75.5 | 71.2 | 77.8 | 62.7 | 84.1 |
Any nights spent in a hospital last year | 21.3 | 17.9 | 23.1 | 13.2 | 26.7 |
Percent African American | 12.9 | 9.1 | 15.0 | 9.0 | 15.6 |
Percent Hispanic | 3.2 | 1.8 | 3.9 | 2.6 | 3.6 |
Percent married | 85.7 | 89.8 | 83.5 | 85.2 | 86.0 |
Percent never married | 1.5 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.3 |
Sample size | 16,155 | 5,554 | 10,601 | 6,487 | 9,668 |
Notes: The subsample universe is males over the age of 40 with 20 or more years of active-duty service who answered the questions on demographic characteristics, income, and self-reported health status. It excludes 264 individuals who reported ever losing education. Officers are defined as pay grades W1-W5 and O1-O6 and above. See notes to Figure 1 for a discussion of the age data.