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Why Have Workers Stopped Joining Unions? The Rise in Never‐Membership in Britain
Author(s) -
Bryson Alex,
Gomez Rafael
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2005.00345.x
Subject(s) - demographic economics , labour economics , member states , union density , political science , economics , collective bargaining , european union , international economics
This paper tracks the rise in the percentage of employees who have never become union members (‘never‐member’) since the early 1980s and shows that it is the reduced likelihood of ever becoming a member, rather than the haemorrhaging of existing members, that is behind the decline in overall union membership in Britain. We estimate the determinants of ‘never‐membership’ and consider how much of the rise can be explained by structural change in the labour market and how much by change in preferences among employees.