EXPLORING MIDWESTERN LABOR LAWS AND HOUSING POLICY DURING THE GREAT RECOVERY

Six states passed Right-to-Work (RTW) statutes between 2001 and 2017 that made it illegal for employers to require their workers to pay union dues. The team theorized that the loss of union benefits such as regular wage increases, health insurance, and job protection may have impacted workers’ ability to pay rent. Since rent nonpayment is the leading cause of eviction filings, the passage of RTW statutes would be associated with an increased rate of filings. The team developed a difference-in-difference statistical model to determine if eviction filing rates changed after the passage of 21st century RTW laws. The model uses two-way fixed effects to control for location stability and time variation. The team found that RTW implementation does not have a significant impact on eviction rates in four of the states that implemented RTW in the 21st century, concluding that RTW statutes do not impact unionization rates enough to significantly alter eviction filing rates.