2011-03-03 14:32:37 -

A new study from the Higgins Labor Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame reveals severe and substantial flaws with the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s effort to promote the “Right-to-Work” bill as an economic windfall. The study by Professor Marty Wolfson, Director of the Higgins Program and former Federal Reserve Board economist, shows that states that have passed a right-to-work law have not seen any meaningful increase in the growth of income in their states. The study also shows that median household income is significantly lower in right-to-work states than it is in non-right-to-work states.

“The Chamber’s arguments are weak, and so is its data analysis,” said Professor Wolfson.

Wolfson’s report paints a different portrait of the impact of right-to-work on

a state’s economy.



- Right-to-work laws have no meaningful positive impact in the growth of income in the states
- Median household income is lower, on average, in right-to-work states and lower than the median household income of country as a whole
- 18 of 22 states who have right-to-work laws have median household incomes below the national median
- Companies who seek lower wages are more likely to relocate to low-wage countries like India or China than to relocate to Indiana


Wolfson’s study is the first by an Indiana expert to comprehensively examine the impact a right-to-work law will have on Indiana’s economy.

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Higgins Labor Studies Program, University of Notre DameMarty

Wolfson, 574-360-5857 mwolfson@nd.edu : mailto:mwolfson@nd.edu