January 19, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Gender gap in unionization closing

Union membership continued to be higher among men (15.2 percent) than women (11.5 percent) in 2000. The gap in unionization rates between the sexes, however, fell from 4.7 percentage points in 1999 to 3.7 percentage points in 2000.

[Chart data—TXT]

The gender gap in unionization rates has been closing over a long time. In 1983, the rate for men was 24.7 percent and the rate for women was 14.6 percent, a difference of 10.1 percentage points.

These data are a product of the Current Population Survey. The union membership data are tabulated from one-quarter of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage and salary workers. Excluded are all self-employed workers. Read news release USDL 01-21, Union Members in 2000, for more details.