Members of the Service Employees International Union march during a protest in support of a new contract for apartment building workers in New York City, April 2, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Mike Segar

As unions crumble, the United States’ embattled middle class may be brought to its knees. A working paper published this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests a “strong, though not necessarily causal” link between the power of labor unions, the well-being of the middle class and income mobility between generations. (emphasis added)

“If there is a causal component to the strong correlations we have found, the natural implication is that the U.S. will find it harder to address the problem of the diminishing middle-income group than if trade unions were as strong and viable as they were 30, 40 or 50 years ago,” researchers Richard Freeman, Eunice Han, David Madland and […]