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Mari, the Happy Wanderer's avatar

Terrific article, Dan! Right now we have the worst of both worlds--gig workers make low pay plus they have no benefits. The only way to make it sustainable for workers and investors alike is to have benefits like healthcare and paid time off be part of a public social safety net, as they are in every other developed country. Otherwise, the workers are just subsidizing the consumers. And I totally agree about taxes. When I was in grad school and adjuncting, I had to pay estimated taxes every year on money I had not yet earned and had no way of knowing whether I would even receive. I would send off my little checks to the IRS, hoping all the while that I had gotten the amounts right and wouldn’t get audited, and completely skeptical that if I had overpaid I would ever see the money owed me. It is insane that the lowest-paid workers have to cope with this, especially since the Uber app could just keep track of earnings and generate a W2, and workers could pay their taxes for the previous year, like all other workers.

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lindamc's avatar

Good, thought-provoking post.

On the one hand, I have been part of the gig economy, as a freelance writer, since 2008. OTOH I barely participate in this economy: I've used Uber a handful of times and never have food/groceries delivered.* I live in NYC and hate how the delivery people - whom, I acknowledge, are generally poorly paid and have crappy jobs - tear through my neighborhood on their motorized bikes, ignoring traffic laws and endangering people on sidewalks. I hate how the ride-hail drivers look at their phones when they should be watching the street and idle in crosswalks and bike lanes. I've never hired someone to help me hang pictures or put together Ikea furniture, things (like grocery shopping) I'm perfectly capable of doing myself and don't want to pay a premium to have others do. I get why some people use them, and don't have a problem with them existing per se, but just as the economy needs to catch up with reality, the built environment of cities - where the market for these services is concentrated - also has a lot of work to do.

*Obviously, as I never have food delivered, I am not a real New Yorker, I'm a transplant from the rustbelt by way of DC.

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