Center for American Progress

Unions Help Middle Class Families Save For Their Future
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Unions Help Middle Class Families Save For Their Future

Author Christian E. Weller discusses why the loss of unions has led to the growth of wealth inequality and what that means for America's middle-class families.

The loss of unions has done real harm to American families’ financial security. Declining union membership, for one, contributes to massive wealth inequality. Many families struggle to deal with economic emergencies, have a hard time getting ahead and face an uncertain retirement, partly because a key to building middle class wealth, the labor movement, has diminished in importance.

Wealth is key to families’ economic security. It is a way to handle the fallout from a financial emergency, such as a layoff or a large medical bill. Yet, four in ten adults could not pay for a $400 emergency without borrowing or selling assets in 2017, meaning they had no or very few emergency funds.

The above excerpt was originally published in Forbes. Click here to view the full article.

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Authors

Christian E. Weller

Senior Fellow