Working poor benefit from unionization
U.S. poverty research has devoted a great deal of attention to the situation of the unemployed over the last few years. Working poverty has tended to be ignored, although the working poor are a significantly larger group than the unemployed poor representing almost 10 percent of the U.S.-American population. The influence of institutions concerning the situation of the working poor has been especially neglected.
David Brady, Director of the research unit Inequality and Social Policy, Regina S. Baker und Ryan Finnigan examine the influence of a potentially important labor market institution on working poverty: the level of unionization within a state. Their findings are clear: the effects of unionization are greater than the effects of a state´s economic performance or particular political stance. The higher the level of unionization then the lower the number of working poor. Unionization reduces working poverty for both unionized workers and non-unionized workers alike.
David Brady/Regina S. Baker/Ryan Finnigan: “When Unionization Disappears: State Level Unionization and Working Poverty in the United States”. In: American Sociological Review, 2013, Jg. 5, Vol. 78, No. 5, 872-896