The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice—in the courts, in public policy, and in our society.
Unions Are Good For Women
Support for unions remains near record highs, reaching levels last seen in the 1950s and 1960s amidst peak union membership, and with good reason: the collective power of union membership helps members achieve higher wages, better benefits and working conditions, and the power to enforce their rights. These benefits are particularly important for women in the workforce, as women who are union members experience more economic security for themselves and their families than nonunion members, including higher and more equal wages. For many women of color, who face significant pay gaps compared to their white male peers, union membership provides meaningful wage improvements. Union members also have greater access to employer-sponsored benefits—such as paid leave and sick days, health insurance, and retirement benefits—and protections against getting fired without cause.
The data in this factsheet is based on union density, or the rate at which working people ages 16 and over have joined unions as dues-paying union members. It does not reflect the number of workers who are represented by a union who are not union members. To be a union member, workers must pay dues.
Overall, women make up almost half of union members (46.0%), and in August 2026, about 3 in 4 women (74%) and people of color (76%) approve of unions, signaling just how desirable union membership is. Yet, because of anti-union tactics by employers, shortfalls in public policy that leave the right to organize insufficiently protected, and recent federal attacks on unions, union membership rates generally have declined over the past 20 years, including for women. Membership rates for women, overall, have gone from 11.3% in 2005 to 9.6% in 2025. During the same time period, union membership rates among all groups of women by race and ethnicity have followed a similar trend: union membership among Black women declined from 14.2% to 10.5%, with both Black women and men experiencing the sharpest drops in membership over the last 20 years, Asian women from 11.5% to 9.8%, Latinas from 10.2% to 9.0%, and white women from 10.8% to 9.3%. While union membership rates have fallen, polling shows that interest in joining a union has only increased during the same period.
