Union Coverage and Men’s Participation in Unpaid Social Reproduction in the United States

Unions foster group solidarity, training individuals to think and act for the collective rather than for purely individual gain. In this article, I study the extent to which union membership is associated with men’s participation in unpaid social reproduction. Descriptive models using American Time Use Surveys indicate that, on average, men with union coverage dedicate more time to unpaid care of household members compared to men without. I offer theoretical explanations for this relationship and explore how union membership has shaped men’s participation in unpaid social reproduction through the lens of community solidarity. JEL Classification: B54, J51, D13