1. An Optimist’s Guide to Benefits in the Gig Economy Libby Reder and Natalie Foster

2. About the Future of Work Initiative
The Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative is a nonpartisan effort to identify concrete ways to strengthen the social contract in the midst of sweeping changes in today’s workplace and workforce
Warner
Fellows: Greg, Natalie – Medium letter
Roundtables, working on a) research agenda and b) resource guide for policymakers

3. Independent and contingent work are on the rise
Depending on the study, million people are categorized as independent workers (EPI, Upwork/Freelancers Union)
36% of Americans are engaged in enterprising or informal work, either as a substitute or complement to a traditional full-time job (Federal Reserve 2016)
Almost all net employment growth in the U.S. economy from to 2015 appears to have occurred in alternative work arrangements (Katz/Krueger 2016)
The sheer number of contingent workers demands attention – especially true when you also consider the growth of those numbers in recent years
Note: Form 1099-MISC can cover many types of payments, everything from rents, lottery prizes, and other awards, to fishing boat proceeds from working on a fishing boat.

4. In the gig economy, the number of people earning is still small but growing quickly
Just under 1% of adults in the U.S. earned income through the platform economy in a given month; more than 4% (10.3 million) participated over a three year period from
47x growth over three year period from
In San Francisco Bay Area, 5.1% participated in year ended September 2015 (compared to 3.1% nationally)
Source: JPMorgan Chase Institute, 2016

5. Online gig economy demographics
Age: Workforce skews young but older workers make up meaningful portion of workforce – 18% are 55+
Income: All quintiles evenly represented, but participation higher for lower- income workers on labor platforms
Sex: More male (67/33)
Race/ethnicity: Generally maps to U.S. workforce numbers from Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014), except lower participation by Latinos/Hispanics
Relationship to other work: Online gig economy work is primarily secondary income – 43% also have FT (29%) or PT (14%) job
Financial health: Only one in three report stable monthly income and 41% report facing a financial hardship in previous year (vs. 18% of Americans)
Sources: JPMorgan Chase Institute, 2016; Emergent/Intuit 2015

6. (Photo: Josh Heald via Flickr /
Creative Commons)

7. Re-imagining the safety net
Portable: Not tied to employment
Universal: Available to all
Pro-rated: Aligned with patchwork reality of gig work