Disenfranchised

Thanks to a 2007 study by David Blanchflower, which came to the conclusion that...

...the probability of being a union member follows an inverted U-shaped pattern in age, maximizing in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom in the mid- to late 40s. This inverted U-shaped pattern is repeated in a further 31 countries, the unweighted average of the age maximum of all 34 countries being 48. The only countries where I did not find evidence that density had an inverted U-shape in age are the Philippines, Cyprus, Latvia and Brazil.

...we don't see any good reason not to use his age and union membership data for that first group of countries as a proxy for the same in Spain.

Any questions as to why last Wednesday's general strike in Spain turned out to be less than a roaring success should be answered by looking at the chart above. Most of their membership has not been affected by the recession. Truly outstanding is the 50-54 age group - which has seen no net job losses since 2006. To state this another way, as of the second quarter of this year, nominal employment among this group was at an all time-high.

Examined from another angle, 82 percent of all jobs lost since the peak of the boom were charged to workers under 35 years old. We assure the reader that this group makes up about only one-third of the labour force.

No one is looking out for them.










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