Spring 2021: Right to Work Benefits Fact Sheet

The National Institute for Labor Relations Research regularly updates research as new reports become available and we recently updated the Spring 2021 Right to Work Benefits Fact Sheet. (Click here for a copy of the Spring 2021 Right to Work Benefits Fact Sheet.)
Percentage Growth in the Number of People Employed (2010-2020) | Right to Work States | 11.0% |
Forced-Unionism States | 2.4% | |
Source: Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Household Survey | ||
Growth in Manufacturing, Private-Sector Payroll Employment (2010-2020) | Right to Work States | 9.1% |
Forced-Unionism States | -0.2% | |
BLS Establishment Survey | ||
Percentage Growth in Total Private-Sector, Non-Farm Employment (2009-2019) | Right to Work States | 24.5% |
Forced-Unionism States | 18.7% | |
Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) | ||
Cost of Living-Adjusted Per Capita Disposable Income (2020) | Right to Work States | $50,546 |
Forced-Unionism States | $49,202 | |
Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC); BEA | ||
Cost of Living-Adjusted After-Tax Mean Income Per Household (2019) | Right to Work States | $64,572 |
Forced-Unionism States | $60,244 | |
Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census (BOC); MERIC; Tax Foundation | ||
Aggregate “Tax Freedom Day” (2019) | Right to Work States | April 9 |
Forced-Unionism States | April 22 | |
Tax Foundation; BEA | ||
Growth in the Number of Residents Aged 35-54 (2009-2019) | Right to Work States | 1.0% |
Forced-Unionism States | -7.4% | |
BOC | ||
Welfare (TANF) Recipients Per 1,000 Residents (FY 2020) | Right to Work States | 3.0 |
Forced-Unionism States | 9.3 | |
U.S. Admin. For Children and Families; BOC | ||
Unfunded Liabilities Per Capita of Public Pension Plans (FY 2018) | Right to Work States | $11,395 |
Forced-Unionism States | $19,028 | |
American Legislative Exchange Council | ||
Percentage Growth in Real Household Consumption (2009-2019) | Right to Work States | 19.9% |
Forced-Unionism States | 15.8% | |
BEA | ||
New Privately-Owned Single-Unit Housing Authorizations Per 1,000 Residents (CY 2020) | Right to Work States | 4.2 |
Forced-Unionism States | 1.7 | |
BOC |
*The term “Tax Freedom Day” was coined and popularized by the nonpartisan, Washington, D.C. based Tax Foundation. As the Tax Foundation has explained, it is “the day when Americans . . . finally have earned enough money to pay off their total [federal, state and local] tax bill for the year.” (For simplicity’s sake, the Tax Foundation assumes an equal amount of income is earned every day and does not distinguish weekdays from weekends.)
Indiana and Michigan became Right to Work states in early 2012 and early 2013, respectively. Wisconsin’s Right to Work law was adopted in March 2015. West Virginia banned forced union dues and fees in 2016, and Kentucky became Right to Work in 2017. These five states are excluded from all multi-year analyses. They are included among the Right to Work states for analyses covering only a period since their laws took effect. Since the Missouri Right to Work adopted in 2017 never took effect, it is never counted as a Right to Work state.
Click here to download a PDF copy of the above NILRR.org Fact Sheet.