January 12, 2018
Don’t Be So Sure the Gig Is Up
Contract work has fallen as a share of employment, a BLS study finds. But there are reasons to doubt it.
Data confirm the “gig economy” is taking off—or do they? A 2017 Upwork study found that 36% of the labor force engaged in some form of contract or freelance work in 2017. In 2015 the Mercatus Center counted 1099-MISC and W-2 tax forms, which report contractor and employee income, respectively. The number of W-2s declined 3.5% between 2000 and 2014, while the 1099-MISC count grew 22% (albeit from a much smaller base).
Continue reading at The Wall Street Journal.