EP 726 Workers Struggle Without Safety Nets in the Gig Economy

It’s hard to look back at the period when Covid-19 was ravaging the health and well-being of the American public, let alone people through the world, and say that we miss some of its silver linings.  Yet government stepped up with added monetary benefits, extended unemployment assistance, a child care tax credit and delays in loan repayments which allowed many Americans to get through this public health crisis without falling off the financial cliff, even if their work life was wildly interrupted.  Now we are back to our regular order and the gig economy, one in which many workers have to take on multiple part-time jobs to survive with none of the perks afforded to those full-time workers who get W-2’s from their employers, is a growing sector of the employment picture.  It’s a struggle for so many, particularly young people, saddled with student debt and borrowing from their future self, but required to take on low paying jobs, bereft of benefits, in order to survive.  This scenario is explained in the new book, “Side Hustle Safety Net: How Vulnerable Workers Survive Precarious Times.”  The author, Alexandrea Ravenelle, is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina.

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