Table 1
Role of erosion of unions on wage inequality, 1979–2017
| Inequality measure | Change in measure | Percent of change in measure explained by erosion of unions* |
|---|---|---|
| Men | ||
| 90/10 wage gap | 0.32 | 27.3% |
| 90/50 wage gap | 0.33 | 37.3% |
| 50/10 wage gap | -0.01 | – |
| Standard deviation (log wages) | 0.12 | 28.8% |
| Gini coefficient | 0.08 | 36.7% |
| Women | ||
| 90/10 wage gap | 0.49 | 4.3% |
| 90/50 wage gap | 0.28 | 13.0% |
| 50/10 wage gap | 0.21 | -6.6% |
| Standard deviation (log wages) | 0.16 | 6.7% |
| Gini coefficient | 0.10 | 8.8% |
* Direct and spillover effect
Note: The wage gaps represent the difference between wages of workers at different percentiles in the wage distribution, where the 50th percentile worker is the median worker.
Source: Analysis of Fortin, Lemieux, and Lloyd 2021.
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