Labor Unions and American Poverty
American poverty research largely neglects labor unions. We use individual-level panel data, incorporate both household union membership and state-level union density, and analyze both working and working-aged poverty. We estimate three-way fixed-effects (person, year, and state) and fixed-effects individual slopes models on the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) 1976-2015. We exploit the Cross-National Equivalent File’s – an extension of the PSID – higher quality income data to measure relative and anchored poverty. Both union membership and state union density have statistically and substantively significant negative relationships with relative and anchored working and working-aged poverty. Household union membership and state union density significantly negatively interact, augmenting the poverty-reducing effects of each. Higher state union density spills over to reduce poverty among non-union households, and there is no evidence that higher state union density worsens poverty for non-union households or undermines employment.