By many measures, quality of life is worse in states with right to work laws. Wages are lower, poverty levels are higher as are workplace fatality rates.
States with "Right-to-Work" Laws Have Lower Wages and Incomes
- On average, workers in states with right to work laws make $6,109 a year (12.1%) less annually than workers in other states ($44,401, compared with $50,511).1
- Median household income in states with these laws is $8,174 (13.9%) less than in other states ($50,712 vs. $58,886).2
- 29.6 percent of jobs in right to work states were in low-wage occupations, compared with 22.8% of jobs in other states.3
READ MORE >> “Right-to-Work” States Still Have Lower Wages, EPI, April 2015
States with "Right-to-Work" Laws Have Higher Workplace Fatality Rates
- "Right-to-Work" makes workplaces more dangerous. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of workplace deaths is 54% higher in right-to-work states.4
READ MORE >> Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, AFL-CIO, April 2016
States Should Decide if They Want "Right-to-Work"
- Every state has the right to workplace rules that work for their local economy. We don't need Washington politicians interfering to pick winners and losers.
READ MORE >> A tale of two states (and what it tells us about so-called “right-to-work” laws), EPI, January 2017
READ MORE >> So-called “right-to-work” laws will lower wages for union and nonunion workers in Missouri, EPI, January 2017
1 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (all industries, all establishments, average annual pay), 2014 data. Numbers are rounded ($50,510.58 and $44,401.17).
2 U.S. Census Bureau, Table H-8. Median Household Income by State: 1984 to 2014.
3 CFED, Asset and Opportunity Scorecard, Low Wage Jobs, 2013.
4 Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2014.