WASHINGTON -- More than half of young people are not qualified to serve in the military because they can't meet entry level standards for health, education and other requirements, a government study released Thursday said.

"When you look at the demographics of the military, the pool is shrinking," said Derek Stewart of the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, which issued the report.

In 2004, there were about 24 million people in the United States between the ages of 16 and 21, the prime recruiting age for the military. Of those, 58 percent, or about 14 million, are ineligible for service, Stewart said.

Of the remaining 10 million, 6 million go on to college -- and that number is growing -- leaving only 4 million that the Pentagon can try to recruit.

There also is less propensity among youth to want to join the military, he said.

For example, the number of African Americans attracted to the military has been on the decline for 3 or 4 years, partly because of the influence of parents, coaches, teachers and preachers who are less likely to encourage military service, Stewart added.

The Army has been struggling to meet recruitment goals, a situation recruiters blame on nightly news footage of the violence in Iraq and civilian employment opportunities.

The Army has responded by adding at least 1,000 new recruiters and offering sign-up bonuses to recruits worth up to $90,000 in cash and tuition payments. In addition, the Army is spending millions of dollars on TV, print and radio ads targeting parents, coaches, teachers and others.

The GAO report -- requested by Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee -- also found that most military reservists who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan came from rural and urban areas, as opposed to suburban communities.

The report said 58 percent of the reservists who died were middle class and 29 percent were poor, as determined by the U.S. military though the use of commercial marketing software and ZIP code information.

In addition, the report found that the military is becoming more racially diverse, more female and has more soldiers who are married and have children.

African Americans are overrepresented in the military, constituting 17 percent of personnel but only 11 percent of the civilian work force. Hispanics, however, are underrepresented, partly because of higher high school dropout rates, which could disqualify them, the report said. Hispanics constitute 9 percent of the military and 11 percent of the civilian work force. Whites make up 67 percent of the military and 71 percent of the civilian work force.

The Defense Department's response to the findings is included in the report. The Pentagon agreed with several recommendations that it should improve tracking the racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds of recruits but said that it may not be necessary to report on all the areas every year.