Dataset for "De-unionization and the wages of essential workers"

The data used for this analysis are from the US Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, specifically the merged outgoing rotation groups. The sample is restricted to full-time civilian wage earners between the ages of 25 and 59 who are not self-employed. People who are not working or who report earning less than $1 per hour in 1979 dollars are excluded from the sample. A list of essential industries was derived from a Department of Homeland Security memorandum, "Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response," as interpreted by a Brookings Institution report, "How to protect essential workers during COVID-19." The list was modified as described in the paper and two definitions of "essential" are used, one narrow (essential (1)) and the other broad (essential (2)).