Table 4.37
Union wage premium for subgroups
| Subgroup | Percent union | Union wage premium* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupation | ||||
| White collar (1997) | 11.6% | 2.2% | ||
| Blue collar (1997) | 20.8 | 23.3 | ||
| Education | ||||
| College (1997) | 10.4% | 5.1% | ||
| High school (1997) | 23.6 | 20.8 | ||
| All (1992, 1993, 1996) | n.a. | 24.5 | ||
| High school or less | n.a. | 35.5 | ||
| Wage distribution | Estimated union wage premium | |||
| Study 1 | Study 2 | Study 3 | ||
| Bottom fifth | 4.9% | 17.2% | 20.6% | 24.2% |
| Second fifth | 8.9 | 21.8 | 16.8 | 34.6 |
| Middle fifth | 14.0 | 20.6 | 13.7 | 30.8 |
| Fourth fifth | 20.3 | 15.5 | 10.7 | 24.5 |
| Top fifth | 19.1 | 12.4 | 6.1 | 6.1 |
| Average effect | 19.0% | 11.9% | n.a. | |
| Percent bottom 40% to top 40% | 35% | 140 | 223 | 193% |
* Percent by which the wages of those covered by collective bargaining agreements exceed wages of comparable nonunion workers
Source: Mishel and Walters (2003, Table 2.3a); Gunderson (2003, Table 5.1 and Appendix C); and premium estimates by fifth from: 1) Gittleman and Pierce (2007), 2) Schmitt (2008), and 3) Card, Lemieux, and Riddell (2002). Union coverage by fifth from Schmitt (2008)
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