STUDY: Workers in “Right-to-Work” States Receive 24% More Government Assistance [View all]

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STUDY: Workers in “Right-to-Work” States Receive 24% More Government Assistance

A new study, from University of Illinois-Urbana professors From Labor and Employment Relations professor Robert Bruno and Illinois Economic Policy Institute Director Frank Manzo found that just as “Right-to-Work” allows some workers to freeload to the detriment of others, it also allows states to promote an anti-labor business model on the dime of those who respect workers. Workers in “Right-to-Work” states account for 37.4 percent of federal income tax revenues, for instance, but receive 41.9 percent of non-health, non-retirement government assistance.

“Right-to-Work” states typically receive assistance from the federal government without paying their fair share. Workers in “Right-to-Work” states receive $0.232 in non-health, non-retirement assistance per dollar they contribute in federal income tax. Workers in collective bargaining states, on the other hand, receive $0.187 per federal income tax dollar, or 24 percent less.

Beyond affecting individual contributions to federal assistance programs, “Right-to-Work” laws contribute to the race to the bottom promoted by business interests looking to cut labor costs. The authors of the paper found that “Right-to-Work” laws:

• Reduce worker income from wages and salaries by 3.2 percent on average.
• Lower both the share of workers who are covered by a health insurance plan (by 3.5 percent) and the share of workers who are covered by a pension plan (by 3 percent).
• Reduce union membership rates by 9.6 percent.
• Increase the employment rate (by 0.4 percent), but at the expense of a lower labor force participation rate (by 0.5 percent).


http://smart-union.org/news/study-workers-in-right-to-work-states-receive-24-more-government-assistance/