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Explaining the Younger– Older Worker Union Density Gap: Evidence from New Zealand

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  • Peter Haynes
  • Jack Vowles
  • Peter Boxall

Abstract

This paper uses two recent large‐scale surveys in New Zealand to test the various reasons given for lower rates of union membership among younger workers. Younger workers’ disproportionate location in smaller workplaces and those industries where union reach is lowest accounts for a substantial part of their lower union density. Along with the tendency of younger workers to explore their options through labour turnover, this factor offers a much better explanation for the younger‐older worker union density gap than do assertions about a growth in individualism in Generations X and Y.

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  • Peter Haynes & Jack Vowles & Peter Boxall, 2005. "Explaining the Younger– Older Worker Union Density Gap: Evidence from New Zealand," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(1), pages 93-116, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:43:y:2005:i:1:p:93-116
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2005.00346.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. 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.
    3. Mélanie Dufour-Poirier & Mélanie Laroche, 2015. "Revitalising young workers' union participation: a comparative analysis of two organisations in Quebec (Canada)," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5-6), pages 418-433, November.
    4. Helen Lam & Mark Harcourt, 2007. "A New Approach to Resolving the Right-to-work Ethical Dilemma," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 231-243, July.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Jeremy Waddington & Allan Kerr, 2015. "Joining UNISON: does the reform of a union organising strategy change how members perceive their recruitment?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 187-207, May.
    10. Mark Harcourt & Gregor Gall & Margaret Wilson & Korey Rubenstein, 2022. "The potential of a union default to influence the preferences and choices of non-union workers in unionised workplaces," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(4), pages 1817-1841, November.
    11. 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.

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