Unions Improve the Pay and Benefits of Younger Workers

For young workers in Pennsylvania and around the United States, it pays to be in a union. Though graduating from high school, college and graduate programs in higher numbers than ever, young workers’ earnings have fallen farther behind over the past 30 years.However, a new report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows that young workers in unions are receiving higher wages and better benefits than their non-union counterparts.

The report, "Unions and Upward Mobility for Young Workers," found that young unionized workers ages18 to 29 earn, on average, 12.4 percent more than their non-union peers. Young workers in unions were much more likely to have health insurance benefits and a pension plan. In Pennsylvania the difference is even greater, with unionized workers ages 18-29 average hourly earnings 38% higher than non-union workers.

The report, which analyzed data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), found that unionization raises the pay of young workers by about $1.75 per hour nationwide, and nearly $4 per hour in Pennsylvania. Young workers in unions were 17% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and 24% more likely to have an employer-provided pension plan than young workers who were not in unions.
 
The full report can be found on the Center for Economic and Policy Research website.