What Do Unions Do . . . Beyond the Workplace?
Paper Session
Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM (EST)
- Chair: Teresa Ghilarducci, New School for Social Research
Growing Up in a Union Household: Impacts of Adult Union Status on Children's Life Course
Abstract
Labor unions might have various effects beyond the workplace. We link data on mothers from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to data on their children from the NLSY79 Child Survey to analyze whether a mother's unionization history while a child is growing up affects two childhood outcomes--cognitive skill and behavior--and two adult outcomes--educational attainment and earnings. We similarly use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to analyze the effect of the unionization history of the household heads on similar childhood and adult outcomes. As these outcomes are likely the product of cumulative childhood experiences, we emphasize the use of unique, cumulative measures of mother or household head union status. We do not find a strong pattern of results indicative of a significant union influence on these measures of the quality of a child's life course.Unionization of the School Food Workforce and Educational Inequality: Evidence from National Data
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between unionization of school food service workers on student performance across school districts of varied socioeconomic status. Based on two nationally representative data sets and using county and year fixed effects, we find that union membership of school food service personnel is positively associated with students' standardized test scores. The effects are more pronounced for students from racial/ethnic minority groups in low-income districts. Our findings suggest that unionization of the school food workforce can contribute to closing performance gaps by improving the educational achievement of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.Union Employment and Old-Age Health: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study
Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between private-sector unionism and health in the U.S. Due to data limitations, this subject has received scant attention in the literature; even basic facts are not well known. This is a rich topic to study because union employment can affect health in many ways. Union workers earn more than their counterparts and have better pensions and health insurance. Unions advocate for occupational safety and ensure employees take up workers' compensation when injured. Unions reduce work-related stress and the length of the workweek and increase the amount of vacation and sick time. The presence of these "pathways" is understood, but their ultimate effect on workers' health is not. This paper uses the Health and Retirement Survey to examine how working in a union job affects mortality and health in old age. The advantages of this data are multifold. The sample size is relatively large, and tenure in a union job is measured, not just a snapshot in time. The survey focuses on old age, a time of greater health deterioration, and follows respondents until death. And the large number of variables allows exploration of the pathways enumerated above and offers a comprehensive picture of health. Our main findings are as follows. First, (former) union workers are less healthy than nonunion workers in numerous ways. Second, there is negative selection into unions. People who expect to be less healthy are disproportionately likely to work in union jobs. Third, despite empirically confirming the pathways listed above, and their positive effects on health, union workers remain less healthy than their counterparts at all levels of job tenure. This surprising finding upends a "conventional wisdom" on unionized workplaces that has been based more on intuition than empirical fact.Discussant(s)
Ben Zipperer
,
Economic Policy Institute
Ling Li
,
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
JEL Classifications
- J4 - Particular Labor Markets