This figure uses orange bars to show the regression-adjusted union-associated percent increase in wages and benefit access for employed adults with disabilities. Union representation is associated with a 17.7 percent increase in median hourly wages for people with disabilities. It is also associated with a 40.4 percent increase in access to employer-sponsored health insurance and a 54 percent increase in access to employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Regressions include adjustments for age, age squared, education (less than high school, high school, some college, bachelor's degree, and advanced), gender, race/ethnicity, year, state, US citizenship, type of disability, presence of multiple types of disability, part-time hours, public sector, and 2-digit occupation and industry. The wage regressions use ordinary least squares and the health and retirement regressions are probits. Union wage premiums in percent are converted from log points by taking the antilog of regression coefficients and subtracting one. Union health insurance and retirement coverage increases in percent terms are relative to the current coverage rates for non-union workers. Wages refer to 2016–2023; health insurance and retirement coverage refer to 2015–2022. All regression results are significant at the one percent level. 2023 CPS rounding rules are applied to wages from all years. Excludes imputed wages.