By Aurelia Glass
At a time when Americans cannot agree on many things, unions have achieved popularity across nearly every age group regardless of partisan affiliation or education.
For several years, public support for labor unions has reached heights not seen since the 1960s, and even though Americans are polarized toward other American institutions, unions maintain strong public support across all age groups and across educational and partisan lines.
New Center for American Progress analysis of American National Election Studies (ANES) data on eligible voters in 2024 shows:
• Every generation expresses positive overall feelings toward unions, with younger generations supporting unions the most.
• On average, self-identified Republicans and Democrats of all but one generation express approval of unions, with only Republican Baby Boomers expressing slightly less than neutral approval.
• Across generations, the working class has similarly strong support for unions, and unions have especially high support among the college-educated members of younger generations.
Echoing the results of a similar CAP analysis using 2020 data, these findings suggest that the broad-based support unions won over the past several years has remained durable. Unions boost wages and empower workers to achieve meaningful improvements in their working conditions and in their ability to support their families. -- READ MORE