This paper analyzes youth-adult unionization differences by uniquely using the NLSY79 to follow a single group of individuals from age 15/16 to 40/41. Youth-adult differences are shown to be largest for individuals aged 15-17, and largely disappear by age 23. Research shows that workers are most...

At any given time, workers can be currently-unionized, formerly-unionized, or never-unionized. Research frequently focuses on the currently-unionized, but using 21 waves of NLSY79 data to track individuals starting at age 15 and 16, this paper shows that half of U.S. workers who are 40 or 41...