Perhaps the largest group of Americans who have no home in the political status quo are the self-employed. According to the U.S. Census, this demographic includes 16.5 million workers, or about 10.4 percent of the total working population. But this is likely a significant undercount, because it fails to capture the full range of self-employment types, which includes gig work, side hustles that supplement traditional employment, contract work, and sole proprietorships (small businesses with no employees).
A more comprehensive survey conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that 15 percent of workers are best classified as independent; another from MBO Partners that includes in its count those who work independently only some of the time puts the share of self-employed workers as high as 44 percent.
Recent Comments