The Independent Contractor Workforce: New Evidence on Its Size and Composition and Ways to Improve Its Measurement in Household Surveys

Abraham, Katharine G.; Hershbein, Brad J.; Houseman, Susan N.; Truesdale, Beth C.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.4368460

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…This broader measurement approach is intended to capture instances of multiple jobholding that include informal paid work activities. Despite this, the subjective nature of defining a 'job' or 'line of work' means that our measure may not capture all instances of multiple jobholding, including those using platform work sporadically as a secondary income (Abraham et al, 2023).…”

Section: Control Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

From flexibility to unending availability: Platform workers' experiences of work–family conflict

Glavin,

Schieman,

Bierman

2024

J of Marriage and Family

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ObjectiveThis article examines whether performing location‐based platform work is associated with greater work–family conflict—and if this association is stronger for those relying on labor platforms for their primary employment.BackgroundDigital labor platforms project a vision of flexibility and improved work‐family balance for workers; however, empirical evidence supporting these promises remains elusive. While platform workers are normally offered the freedom to choose their work hours, the efforts of labor platforms to algorithmically manage workers' schedules may encourage an ‘always‐on’ approach to work that pressures workers to prioritize work availability that exacerbates work–family conflicts.MethodWe conducted three national surveys of Canadian workers in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Based on pooled survey data (N = 10,483), structural equational modeling was used to investigate (1) the relationship between location‐based platform work and work–family conflict and (2) the mediating role of work‐family role blurring—captured by work contact outside of normal working hours.ResultsWe discovered that platform workers, compared to employees and the traditional self‐employed, reported greater work–family conflict—conflicts that were especially pronounced for those relying on labor platforms as their primary source of income. These patterns were partially explained by platform workers' increased exposure to work contact outside of work hours.ConclusionOur findings question the assertion that digital labor platforms provide enhanced flexibility for managing work and family demands. Instead, we contend that the instability inherent in platform work blurs and disrupts work‐family role boundaries, disproportionately favoring labor platforms and their clientele at the expense of workers' familial responsibilities.

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Section: Control Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

From flexibility to unending availability: Platform workers' experiences of work–family conflict

Glavin,

Schieman,

Bierman

2024

J of Marriage and Family

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“…For example, Bracha and Burke (2021) estimate that in 2015, the employment rate would have been 4 percentage points higher if it had included the labor-intensive informal workers not counted as employed by the Current Population Survey (CPS). In related research, Abraham et al (2023) find that, after they correct for the miscoding of independent contractors as payroll workers, the share of workers in independent contracting arrangements on their main job nearly doubles. These findings raise concerns that official statistics not only distort the level of employment but also miss important developments in worker well-being, as independent work lacks benefits such as guaranteed minimum wages, subsidized health insurance, and other perks of traditional employment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It also is unique in fielding a survey with these dual probes consistently over time with a broadly representative sample. Two other studies have similar features in terms of probing separately for traditional employment status and informal work activity, but one of these (Abraham and Amaya 2019) is limited to a convenience sample of MTurk users, and another (Abraham et al 2023) focuses on the miscoding of independent work as payroll employment and is based on a single-year survey. Both studies find that official employment rates would have been higher if independent work were fully captured, and the upward revisions they estimate are generally within the range of our own estimates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Abraham et al (2013) suggest that nonstandard work arrangements may contribute to, and help to explain, discrepancies between employment statistics based on surveys of households as opposed to those based on surveys of employers. Abraham et al (2023) argue that the CPS underestimates self-employment in part because when answering standard employment survey questions, many independent contractors report that they work for an employer. Abramowitz (2021) finds evidence that even tax-based employment rates in independent work may be too low in the case of older workers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Informal Work and Official Employment Statistics: What’s Missing?

Bracha,

Burke

2023

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers

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Using eight consecutive waves of the Survey of Informal Work Participation (SIWP) spanning 2015 through 2022, we investigate informal "gig" work participation in the United Statesbroadly defined to include online and offline activities-and its implications for the measurement of employment. Our results suggest that employment rates among US household heads were consistently understated in the Current Population Survey (CPS). Under conservative estimates, we find that the employment-to-population ratio would have been 0.25 to 1.1 percentage points higher over the 2015-2022 period and as much as 5.1 percentage points higher under more generous estimates. Along the intensive margin, we find evidence that a significant number of informal work hours are missing from official employment surveys, partly because employed individuals do not fully report their informal hours. Comparing informal workers who are classified as employed by the CPS with those who are arguably misclassified as nonemployed, we find that the latter are, on average, older, less educated, and less likely to cite income as a motivation for gig work, and an elevated share are disabled. The data also indicate that certain types of income-earning activities, such as renting and selling, are less likely to be perceived as "work." These results suggest ways to improve official surveys to better capture those employed in gig work and obtain a fuller picture of the labor market.

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“… 2 Estimating the total number of workers in the on-demand economy is difficult (see Collins et al, 2019 and Abraham et al, 2023 for rationale). Estimates suggest that the gig economy’s workforce is growing much faster (150 percent increase 2019–2021) than the U.S. workforce as a whole (one percent increase 2019–2021) (Garin et al, 2023).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Making of the “Good Bad” Job: How Algorithmic Management Manufactures Consent Through Constant and Confined Choices

Cameron

2024

Administrative Science Quarterly

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This research explores how a new relation of production—the shift from human managers to algorithmic managers on digital platforms—manufactures workplace consent. While most research has argued that the task standardization and surveillance that accompany algorithmic management will give rise to the quintessential “bad job” (Kalleberg, Reskin, and Hudson, 2000; Kalleberg, 2011), I find that, surprisingly, many workers report liking and finding choice while working under algorithmic management. Drawing on a seven-year qualitative study of the largest sector in the gig economy, the ride-hailing industry, I describe how workers navigate being managed by an algorithm. I begin by showing how algorithms segment the work at multiple sites of human–algorithm interactions and how this configuration of the work process allows for more-frequent and narrow choice. I find that workers use two sets of tactics. In engagement tactics, individuals generally follow the algorithmic nudges and do not try to get around the system; in deviance tactics, individuals manipulate their input into the algorithmic management system. While the behaviors associated with these tactics are practical opposites, they both elicit consent, or active, enthusiastic participation by workers to align their efforts with managerial interests, and both contribute to workers seeing themselves as skillful agents. However, this choice-based consent can mask the more-structurally problematic elements of the work, contributing to the growing popularity of what I call the “good bad” job.

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The Independent Contractor Workforce: New Evidence on Its Size and Composition and Ways to Improve Its Measurement in Household Surveys

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

From flexibility to unending availability: Platform workers' experiences of work–family conflict

From flexibility to unending availability: Platform workers' experiences of work–family conflict

Informal Work and Official Employment Statistics: What’s Missing?

The Making of the “Good Bad” Job: How Algorithmic Management Manufactures Consent Through Constant and Confined Choices

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