Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Unionization in Direct Care Occupations

Bibliographic Data

ID11022892
AuthorsJ Dill (0000-0002-4044-3127, Janette Dill is with the Division of Health Policy and Management in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Jill Tanem is with DIRA Partners, San Francisco, CA.), Jill Tanem (Janette Dill is with the Division of Health Policy and Management in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Jill Tanem is with DIRA Partners, San Francisco, CA.)
Year2022
Volume112
Issue11
Pages1676-1684
Publication date2022-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2022.307022
PMID36223582
OpenAlexW4304755014
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited15

Objectives. The goal of this study was to measure unionization in the direct care workforce and the relationship between unionization and earnings, looking closely at differences across race/ethnicity and gender. Methods. Using data from the Current Population Survey from 2010 to 2020, we first used logit analyses to predict the probability of unionization among direct care workers across race/ethnicity and gender. We then measured the relationship between unionization and weekly earnings. Results. We found that male (12%) and Black (14%) direct care workers were most likely to be unionized, followed by Hispanic and other direct care workers of color. Unionized direct care workers earn wages that are about 7.8% higher than nonunionized workers, but unionized workers of color earn lower rewards for unionization compared with White direct care workers. Conclusions. Unions are a mechanism for improving job quality in direct care work, and protecting workers’ rights to unionize and participate in collective bargaining equitably may be a way to stabilize and grow the direct care workforce. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(11):1676–1684. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307022 )

Business · Collective bargaining · Demographic economics · Earnings · Economics · Ethnic group · Health care · Labour economics · Political science · Race (biology) · Sociology · Workforce · Employment and Welfare Studies · Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes · Law · Medicine · Workplace Health and Well-being

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Open DOIOpen Access