Union Membership Peaks in Midlife

Abstract

Using data from 68 countries on over 8 million respondents over forty years we show union membership peaks in midlife -usually around workers' late 40s or early 50s. In doing so we extend Blanchflower's (2007) earlier study, incorporating a further 39 countries and another decade or so of data. We also found it in every US state and the District of Columbia as well as across industries. The fact that this relationship exists in virtually every country across the world challenges a key precept in industrial relations, namely that institutions matter: they appear to matter little, at least in the case of the hump-shaped relationship between unionization and age. The union membership rates at the age peak in the United States and the United Kingdom have lowered over time, while the age at which the peak has occurred has increased in both countries. In part this is due to increasing union membership rates among those over the age of sixty-five. Declines in membership by birth cohort have lowered union density rates as the older cohorts with historically higher membership rates leave labour markets. Although we have yet to fully understand why union membership peaks in midlife we are able to examine some of the possible explanations. The findings have important implications for our understanding of trade unionism across the world.

Disability and trade union membership in the UK

“…In contrast to recent conclusions in relation to age (Blanchflower & Bryson, 2022), differences in our findings relative to Ameri et al (2019), who find no significant unexplained differential in union coverage but lower disability-related wage inequality and lower disability gaps in job retention among union members in the United States, are suggestive of an influence of institutional context on the relationship between disability and unions. Albeit recognizing the importance of international differences in disability measurement, this is something future research across countries would be well placed to assess.…”

“…In terms of the latter, we consider worker composition effects, differences in preferences for union representation and evaluations of union performance, and whether unions are associated with lower disability-related labour market inequality. The findings, therefore, contribute to, and integrate a body of evidence on, the composition and impact of union membership (see Blanchflower & Bryson, 2010, 2022 with the literature relating to disability-related labour market inequality, including disability pay gap (DPG) (Jones et al, 2006;Longhi et al, 2012) and disability employment gap (DEG) (Baumberg et al, 2015). In doing so, this article provides timely and important new evidence for government policy which aims to reduce the DEG in the UK (HM Government, 2021).…”

Now Unions Increase Job Satisfaction and Well-being

“…Of note also is that Blanchflower and Bryson (2020) have found that union membership peaks in midlife. Over time there have been changes in that the level of the peak has fallen as union density rates have fallen.…”

What explains the increase in trade union density and female share of union members in the United Kingdom in 2017–2020?

“…Previous studies have found that the relationship between age and union membership is also non-linear (Ebbinghaus et al, 2011;Kirmanoğlu and Başlevent, 2012). Although younger employees tend to have lower probabilities of unionisation (Vandaele, 2019), Blanchflower and Bryson (2022) show that the probability of being unionised increases until an individual is in their late 40s or early 50s and then declines. This pattern holds even when controlling for birth cohort dummies.…”

“…Certain sectors (in particular, mining and manufacturing) also have higher unionisation rates (Kirmanoğlu and Başlevent, 2012; Visser, 2019). Employment in the public sector is also associated with a higher probability of union membership (Blanchflower, 2007; Kirmanoğlu and Başlevent, 2012) whilst larger workplaces tend to have higher unionisation rates (Ebbinghaus et al, 2011; Kirmanoğlu and Başlevent, 2012; Visser, 2019).…”