1Paragraph provided by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics' "Union Members Summary 2001."
2RTW and non-RTW summary statistics are
weighted by the number of states in each category (typically 29 and 21 for non-RTW
and RTW, respectively).
31999 was the last year available as of this
writing.
4Lacking cost-of-living data by state, Bennett
used Consumer Price Index data from a large number of metropolitan areas to
compare RTW versus non-RTW states.
5The Census Bureau's decennial survey data on
family income starts in 1969 but the most recent survey (i.e. - 1999) is
currently unavailable. The series from the household survey (used in the
study), conversely, has data for 2000 but dates back only to 1977. The annual
series from the Current Population Survey is not interchangeable because the
series uses a different scale than the decennial survey.
6The poverty gap between RTW and non-RTW states
was even greater in earlier periods. The U.S. Census Bureau's 1969 decennial
survey shows Gini coefficients of .372 and .348 for RTW states and non-RTW,
respectively.
7But in the decennial survey on family
income, Michigan has the distinction of having the greatest increase in income
inequality among all 50 states from 1969 through 1989, with the Gini coefficient
rising from .329 to .395.