As union membership has fallen over the last few decades, the share of income going to the top 10 percent has steadily increased. Union membership fell to 11.1 percent in 2014, where it remained in 2015 (not shown in the figure). The share of income going to the top 10 percent, meanwhile, hit 47.2 percent in 2014—only slightly lower than 47.8 percent in 2012, the highest it has been since 1917 (the earliest year data are available). When union membership was at its peak (33.4 percent in 1945) the share of income going to the top 10 percent was only 32.6 percent.
Source: Piketty and Saez (2014), Gordon (2013), and Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey public data series Data on union density follows the composite series found in Historical Statistics of the United States; updated to 2014 from unionstats.com. Income inequality (share of income to top 10%) from Piketty and Saez, “Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(1), 2003, 1-39. Updated data for this series and other countries, is available at the Top Income Database. Updated 2016.As union membership has fallen, the top 10 percent have been getting a larger share of income: Union membership and share of income going to the top 10%, 1917–2014
Year
Union membership
Share of income going to the top 10 percent
1917
11.0%
40.3%
1918
12.1%
39.9%
1919
14.3%
39.5%
1920
17.5%
38.1%
1921
17.6%
42.9%
1922
14.0%
42.9%
1923
11.7%
40.6%
1924
11.3%
43.3%
1925
11.0%
44.2%
1926
10.7%
44.1%
1927
10.6%
44.7%
1928
10.4%
46.1%
1929
10.1%
43.8%
1930
10.7%
43.1%
1931
11.2%
44.4%
1932
11.3%
46.3%
1933
9.5%
45.0%
1934
9.8%
45.2%
1935
10.8%
43.4%
1936
11.1%
44.8%
1937
18.6%
43.3%
1938
23.9%
43.0%
1939
24.8%
44.6%
1940
23.5%
44.4%
1941
25.4%
41.0%
1942
24.2%
35.5%
1943
30.1%
32.7%
1944
32.5%
31.5%
1945
33.4%
32.6%
1946
31.9%
34.6%
1947
31.1%
33.0%
1948
30.5%
33.7%
1949
29.6%
33.8%
1950
30.0%
33.9%
1951
32.4%
32.8%
1952
31.5%
32.1%
1953
33.2%
31.4%
1954
32.7%
32.1%
1955
32.9%
31.8%
1956
33.2%
31.8%
1957
32.0%
31.7%
1958
31.1%
32.1%
1959
31.6%
32.0%
1960
30.7%
31.7%
1961
28.7%
31.9%
1962
29.1%
32.0%
1963
28.5%
32.0%
1964
28.5%
31.6%
1965
28.6%
31.5%
1966
28.7%
32.0%
1967
28.6%
32.0%
1968
28.7%
32.0%
1969
28.3%
31.8%
1970
27.9%
31.5%
1971
27.4%
31.8%
1972
27.5%
31.6%
1973
27.1%
31.9%
1974
26.5%
32.4%
1975
25.7%
32.6%
1976
25.7%
32.4%
1977
25.2%
32.4%
1978
24.7%
32.4%
1979
25.4%
32.3%
1980
23.6%
32.9%
1981
22.3%
32.7%
1982
21.6%
33.2%
1983
21.4%
33.7%
1984
20.5%
33.9%
1985
19.0%
34.3%
1986
18.5%
34.6%
1987
17.9%
36.5%
1988
17.6%
38.6%
1989
17.2%
38.5%
1990
16.7%
38.8%
1991
16.2%
38.4%
1992
16.2%
39.8%
1993
16.2%
39.5%
1994
16.1%
39.6%
1995
15.3%
40.5%
1996
14.9%
41.2%
1997
14.7%
41.7%
1998
14.2%
42.1%
1999
13.9%
42.7%
2000
13.5%
43.1%
2001
13.5%
42.2%
2002
13.3%
42.4%
2003
12.9%
42.8%
2004
12.5%
43.6%
2005
12.5%
44.9%
2006
12.0%
45.5%
2007
12.1%
45.7%
2008
12.4%
46.0%
2009
12.3%
45.5%
2010
11.9%
46.4%
2011
11.8%
46.6%
2012
11.2%
47.8%
2013
11.2%
47.0%
2014
11.1%
47.2%
The single largest factor suppressing wage growth for working people and suppressing union membership over the last few decades has been the erosion of collective bargaining. This erosion has affected both union and nonunion workers alike, contributing to wage stagnation and growth in inequality. To boost wages for working people, policymakers need to intentionally tilt power back to working people by strengthening their rights to stand together and negotiate collectively for better wages and benefits, raising and improving labor standards, and achieving persistent low unemployment.
