Repository logo
 

Dataset for "De-unionization and the wages of essential workers"

Date

2021

Authors

Walke, Adam

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Abstract

A definition of essential industries based on recent federal government guidelines is used to trace out the trajectory of wages for essential and nonessential sectors over time in the United States. This retrospective approach is justified by the fact that the included industries provide goods and services that are essential to health and safety whether or not emergency conditions exist. Union density has been consistently higher in essential industries, but the percentage of nonunionized workers has also increased more rapidly in those industries. The data show that real wages in essential industries have declined relative to nonessential industries since 1983 and that essential industries have consistently had lower levels of wage inequality than their nonessential counterparts. Regression analyses suggest that uneven de-unionization can explain part of the decline in relative wages. Furthermore, higher rates of union coverage in essential industries likely contribute to their comparatively low levels of wage inequality.

Description

The data used for this analysis are from the US Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, specifically the merged outgoing rotation groups. The sample is restricted to full-time civilian wage earners between the ages of 25 and 59 who are not self-employed. People who are not working or who report earning less than $1 per hour in 1979 dollars are excluded from the sample. A list of essential industries was derived from a Department of Homeland Security memorandum, "Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response," as interpreted by a Brookings Institution report, "How to protect essential workers during COVID-19." The list was modified as described in the paper and two definitions of "essential" are used, one narrow (essential (1)) and the other broad (essential (2)).
Department of Economics

Rights Access

Subject

Essential Workers
Critical Infrastructure Sectors
Wage Dispersion
Wage Differentials
Labor Unions

Citation

Associated Publications

Walke, A.G. (2021) "De-unionization and the wages of essential workers." Review of Social Economy. https://doi.org/10.1080/00346764.2021.1942181