https://www.forbes.com/sites/elaine...ance-economy-shows-rapid-growth/#200678ed7c3f Forbe's has tried to put a positive spin on this. 1 out of 3 Americans are basically working in what has been termed the "gig economy". That often means no steady employment, unpredictable incomes and no company benefits. Well that's great for some. But not everyone would be wanting to do this if there were better full-time employment opportunities out there. If you look at Third World countries, half to two-thirds the population is self-employed.
I spent a lot of time "freelancing" when I was younger, and it's all dependent upon the type of work and the situation. I owned a small landscaping company and most of my money came from larger companies that subbed out work to me. They paid a flat rate for the job, I had a flexible schedule, and was able to make a decent paycheck. I work construction, and traditional schedules are absolutely necessary, but not so much for on demand services, office work, etc.
And that is bad being self-employed, hello sunshine, I was disabled all my life the gig economy is better than no jobs or working in a "protected shop" and legally getting paid half the minimum wage the only issue I had as a Busker was it equals BUM in my area so I couldn't do that to earn money unlike the EU nations where I was an Artist and treated well and tipped well. If this is the new model then unemployment laws, taxes, retirement planning and such needs to adapt to it.
Independent contractors(gig workers) are still covered under Social Security/Medicare, and should be able to purchase their own unemployment insurance coverage.
Millennials are obsessed with side hustles because they’re all we’ve got https://www.thecashlorette.com/mill...ion-millennials-making-major-money-side-gigs/ https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/9/1688087/-The-Glorification-of-the-Millennial-Side-Hustle
I'm a Millennial on the older side, and left high school right as the whole house of cards was coming down. There's ample opportunity for my generation, but for whatever reason they lack the drive to pursue it. A good friend of mine had been unemployed for about a year(this was in 2014 or so) and he started to fall into a deep depression, and I assumed his lack of prospects stemmed from being a disabled veteran with back issues. I called up an old boss who had moved on to be the district manager for an industrial supply company, and landed him a pretty solid job-$2,000 base salary, plus commissions, and half way decent benefits. All that ****er had to do was call. He never did. Kid down the street from me, probably about 21, helped me put in a drainage system in my backyard because I'm a little beyond poking around in the mud these days, and anybody willing to do it for me for $10/hr will find himself with all the work he can handle. He busted his ass at my place, and after hearing him complain about not being able to find a "real job" got him one with a commercial landscaping company. $12/hr, with health insurance, at a company that took pretty damn good care of it's employees and promoted from within. I got a phone call from the irrigation manager yelling at me for making him look like an idiot when the kid quit without notice because he had to "focus on making the college soccer team". I got real lucky because I grew up in LA. The traditional employment avenues for teenagers weren't available to me because there were a million idiots from all around the country pursing their dream of being a star and I didn't really stand out in the "audition" interviews most retail/food service jobs utilized. So I worked with a couple carpenters hanging doors, framing, and doing demo on weekends and during the summer. 11 years later I run half a prefab shop, manage a dozen employees, and dream of one day knowing what it's like to collect an unemployment check, but I'd settle for only having to work 40 hours a week.
Not entirely accurate. Employers don't have to pay the independent contractor's 1/2 FICA taxes. The worker has to pay double the rate for the same insurance, something which is a big burden on low income workers. Which is why many employers try to get away with this.
It depends on how you look at it. Someone who has to pay double the rate of SS/FICA for the same coverage isn't going to feel like their covered like employees are.
You pay the same rate regardless, you just don't notice it. If only people were responsible enough to save for their own retirements.
Depends on how organized they are. I have had other sources of income other than my job for as long as I have ever had a job. I will have other sources of income even when I no longer have a job. That is what is so appealing about freelancing---you are not dependent on one employer (i.e. held hostage by them). You can walk when the situation calls for it. Now currently I have a not full-time job that pays very well, I have investment income/rents, and I own a couple small businesses. On the business side, the FICA stuff isn't a big deal. I have a payroll company that takes care of everything, I just make sure the money is in the account when it needs to be in the account, and I dump a lot of money into retirement plan with one of them. It is a lot cheaper to pay the FICA than to have them rip you a new rectum if you weren't paying yourself a regular check with withholdings all along during the year out of the businesses The oddest situation as far as freelance stuff was once I had a full-time job and did freelance work on the side related to that job. I had so many people wanting me to do work, that I didn't have enough hours in the day and theoretically should have quit the job to do the freelance stuff which paid much much better but I couldn't because all the freelance stuff came from people connected to that job. If I had quit, I would have lost the pipeline to the freelance business because I otherwise would have had no natural contact point with the people hiring e on the side. It was a damned if you do, damned if you don't.
