Union membership falls

Union membership fell slightly from 6.56 million in 2020 to 6.44 million last year, according to the latest official trade union membership statistics. It was the first decline following four years of consecutive growth.

The downturn in numbers was driven by a 58,000 fall in membership in the public sector, while private sector membership declined by only 4,000.

The proportion of employees who are union members (“union density”) fell from 23.7% to 23.1% over the year. This decline was primarily among women, whose union density went from 27.2% to 26.3%. Men’s union density slipped just slightly – from 20.3% to 20.0%.

Union density is much higher in the public sector than the private sector, but fell more substantially in 2020-21, from 51.8% to 50.1%. In the private sector it was more stable, slipping only from 12.9% to 12.8%.