State of the gig economy
Hello from SurveyMonkey!
This week your data guide is Zoe Padgett, our newest Research Scientist who focuses on market research and current events. She’ll share new polling data on how Americans are feeling about the gig economy. Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to read more about Zoe! But first, as always, here’s a quick recap of our data in the news and on our blog:
Democrats find solid base ahead of midterms: new polling in partnership with The 19th shows women, non-binary individuals, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color are some of the most reliable Democratic Party voters. Read the blog post, check out the landing page at The 19th, or read the in-depth articles below.
Vast majority of Americans want to keep abortion legal: 61% say abortion should be legal in all or most cases while just 10% say it should be illegal in all cases. Women and gender non-conforming people are most likely to say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Get the full story here.
LGBTQ+ people more likely to face medical discrimination: nearly 3 in 10 LGBTQ+ people (28%) said their health care provider was bias or stereotyped them – just 12% of non-LGBTQ+ people said the same. A quarter of LGBTQ+ people said they were blamed for their health problems while only 9% of LGBTQ+ reported the same experience. Read the full story.
Work-life balance remains difficult for parents, moms especially: 69% of Americans say they have an “easy” time balancing work and life, but just 57% of caregivers say the same. Among moms, that number is even lower: 52% of single moms, along with 56% of married or partnered moms have an “easy” time balancing work and life compared with 56% of single dads and 62% of married or partnered dads. Read the full story.
As the so-called “Millennial Lifestyle Subsidy” seems to be coming to an end, consumers who depend on gig economy services may need to start looking elsewhere. We asked U.S. consumers about their usage of gig economy services, and gig workers about their work experiences. We found that lower-income consumers are more likely to depend on gig economy services in their daily lives, but plan to use these services less often as they watch their wallets in the coming months.
Younger consumers are more likely to use gig economy services across the board
Younger consumers rely on the gig economy to a much greater extent than others, with 14% of adults age 18-34 saying they use ridesharing apps, 19% using restaurant delivery apps, and 11% using grocery apps at least once a week. Among seniors ages 65 and up, those numbers are just 2%, 3%, and 3%, respectively.
The vast majority of seniors never use the gig economy: 76% never used ridesharing apps in the last 6 months, 78% never used restaurant delivery apps, and 78% never used grocery delivery apps.
Task-based apps like TaskRabbit or Thumbtack are least popular, with only 7% of consumers using these apps at least once a month. Comparatively, restaurant delivery is the most popular gig economy service; 28% of consumers use restaurant delivery apps at least once a month.
Lower-income consumers are more dependent on gig economy services
People at either end of the income spectrum make use of the gig economy at about the same rates, but those in lower-income households are more dependent on the gig economy and also more likely to say they want to cut back. Regardless of income, about 6 in 10 people say they have used gig economy services in the last six months (61% among those making $50,000 or less, 57% among those making between $50,000 and $99,999, and 66% among those making $100,000 or more).
However, lower-income consumers are more dependent on the gig economy, with 29% saying they are very dependent on these services in their daily lives or somewhat dependent but could give them up if the prices increased too much (the numbers are 17% among both middle- and high-earners). More than a quarter of lower-income gig economy users (28%) are also planning to use these services less often in the next 6 months as they tighten their budgets.
Younger, less educated, and gender non-conforming workers are more likely to take on gig work
It may not be surprising that younger workers are more likely to work in the gig economy – 26% of those ages 18-34 have done gig work, compared to 13% of those ages 35-64 and only 4% of those ages 65 and up. Male and female workers work in the gig economy at about the same rate (14% of each group), but gender non-conforming workers (25%) are more likely to take on gig economy work. Additionally, adults with a college or graduate degree are less likely to have worked in the gig economy (9%) compared to those without a degree (17%).
While male and female workers may work in the gig economy at similar rates, they tend to work for different types of services, and have different reasons for choosing gig work. Male workers are more likely to work for ridesharing apps (29%, vs. 21% of female gig workers), while female workers are more likely to choose grocery delivery (38%, compared to 22% of male gig workers). Female gig workers tend to choose gig work to be able to control their own schedules (37%, compared to 27% of males) or because they do not have many other job opportunities (18%, compared to 11% of males). On the other hand, male gig workers are more likely to take on gig work for fun, or to do something with their spare time (25%, compared to 17% of females).
About Zoe: Zoe is a Research Scientist at Momentive where she conducts market research (MRx) and writes blogs about topics like telehealth and IT decision-making. She holds a master’s degree in survey methodology from the University of Maryland, and has previously worked at ICF and the American Institutes for Research, primarily working on large-scale surveys for the U.S. government. Zoe is an avid reader and yogi, and loves spending time with her dog and cat.
That’s all for this week! Thanks as always for reading.