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Cross-Generation Correlations of Union Status For Young People in Britain

Author

Listed:
  • Jo Blanden
  • Stephen Machin
Abstract
In this paper we investigate whether young people whose fathers are union members are themselves more likely to join a union. The work builds upon a large social science literature on intergenerational mobility that, to ourknowledge, has not been applied to industrial relations questions. The paper asks questions and provides evidence from British longitudinal data on several issues to do with the cross-generation transmission of union status:i) We first calculate odds ratios, as often used in the literature on social mobility, to look at empirical connections between the union status of young people and their fathers. We calculate relative risk ratios that measure the relative chances that a child of a unionized father is unionized as compared to the relative chances of the child of a non-union father being unionized. This relative risk ratio is of the order of 2, showing that young people with unionized fathers are twice as likely to be unionized as those with non-union fathers. ii) The relative risk ratio is higher, at over 3, for young people with fathers who report themselves as being active in a union. To the extent that active in a union fathers are more likely to 'spread the word' about unions to their offspring, this higher relative risk ratio supports the idea that the socialization within the family during the formative years passes on positive knowledge about unions to children of unionized parents making them more likely to join a union. iii) The intergenerational correlation of union status has not reduced over time. Despite a widening of the union membership gap between older and younger workers, relative risk ratios calculated from early 1980s data are no larger than those from the 1990s. iv) The cross-generation correlation is not driven by common within-family characteristics (like occupation, industry and political persuasion) that are strongly related to union status in the data.

Suggested Citation

  • Jo Blanden & Stephen Machin, 2002. "Cross-Generation Correlations of Union Status For Young People in Britain," CEP Discussion Papers dp0553, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0553
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Timothy Smeeding, 2013. "GINI DP 89: On the relationship between income inequality and intergenerational mobility," GINI Discussion Papers 89, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    2. Goerke, Laszlo & Pannenberg, Markus, 2011. "Trade union membership and dismissals," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 810-821.
    3. Stephen Machin, 2004. "Factors of Convergence and Divergence in Union Membership," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(3), pages 423-438, September.
    4. Gabriele Cardullo & Maurizio Conti & Andrea Ricci & Sergio Scicchitano & Giovanni Sulis, 2024. "On the emergence of cooperative industrial and labour relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(3), pages 568-590, September.
    5. Olivier Guillot & Magali Jaoul-Grammare & Isabelle Terraz, 2019. "Union Membership in France: An Empirical Study," Working Papers of BETA 2019-04, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    6. Jonathan E. Booth & John W. Budd & Kristen M. Munday, 2010. "Never Say Never? Uncovering the Never‐Unionized in the United States," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 26-52, March.
    7. Luc Arrondel, 2009. ""My Father was right": The transmission of values between generations," Working Papers halshs-00566808, HAL.
    8. Rachel Aleks & Tina Saksida & Aaron S. Wolf, 2021. "Hero or Villain? A Cohort and Generational Analysis of How Youth Attitudes Towards Unions Have Changed over Time," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 532-567, June.
    9. Luc Arrondel, 2013. "Are “daddy’s boys” just as rich as daddy? The transmission of values between generations," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(4), pages 439-471, December.
    10. Daniele Checchi & Jelle Visser & Herman G. Van De Werfhorst, 2010. "Inequality and Union Membership: The Influence of Relative Earnings and Inequality Attitudes," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 84-108, March.
    11. Huw Beynon & Helen Blakely & Alex Bryson & Rhys Davies, 2021. "The Persistence of Union Membership within the Coalfields of Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(4), pages 1131-1152, December.
    12. Andy Hodder, 2014. "Organising young workers in the Public and Commercial Services union," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 153-168, March.
    13. Jonathan E. Booth & John W. Budd & Kristen M. Munday, 2010. "First-Timers and Late-Bloomers: Youth—Adult Unionization Differences in a Cohort of the U.S. Labor Force," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(1), pages 53-73, October.
    14. Clark, Andrew Eric & D'Angelo, Emanuela, 2013. "Upward social mobility, well-being and political preferences: evidence from the BHPS," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121792, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Ayhan Gormus, 2017. "Non-Unionized Workers In British Green Sectors: Evidence From The Labor Force Survey," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 5(1), pages 1-15.
    16. A Charlwood, 2003. "The Anatomy of Union Decline in Britain: 1990-1998," CEP Discussion Papers dp0601, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    17. Alex Bryson & Rhys Davies, 2019. "Family, Place and the Intergenerational Transmission of Union Membership," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(3), pages 624-650, September.
    18. Andrew CLARK & Emanuela D'ANGELO, 2010. "Upward Social Mobility, Well-being and;Political Preferences: Evidence from the;BHPS," Working Papers 338, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    19. Blanchflower, David G., 2006. "A Cross-Country Study of Union Membership," IZA Discussion Papers 2016, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Jim Foreman & Howard Gospel, 2002. "The Provision of Training in Britain: Case Studies of Inter-Firm Coordination," CEP Discussion Papers dp0555, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    young people; union member; union at work; relative risk ratio; intergenerational links;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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