'I can come home for any reason': Rideshare workers choose freelance driving for schedule flexibility

Economics
Viktor bystrov qd zd2moee8 unsplash
The great majority of full-time freelancers say their job lets them live the lifestyle they want, compared to just 63% of full-time traditional workers. | Unsplash/Viktor Bystrov

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Sponsored Content — Workers who choose to drive for Uber often cite the convenience of being able to set their own schedules around their homes lives and responsibilities as their primary reason for taking up freelance work.

Forbes reports that 84% of full-time freelancers say their job lets them live the lifestyle they want, compared to just 63% of full-time traditional workers. Another 42% said they would not be able to work a traditional job due to their existing life circumstances. According to the report, workers are spending more time doing freelance work, with the average weekly hours increasing to more than 1 billion hours per week freelancing as of Oct. 2018, compared to 998 million hours in 2015.

"Freelancing provides opportunities to those who might not otherwise be able to work," Stephane Kasriel, CEO of Upwork said, according to Forbes. "It gives them the flexibility they need."

According to the "Freelancing in America: 2019" survey of 6,000 U.S. workers, 79% of full time and 76% of part-time freelance workers cited having a flexible schedule and being able to choose their work days and hours for affecting their decision to join the freelance workforce.

"If I need to come home, I think I can come home for any reason," Camille Mauro, a part-time Uber driver in Miami, told Florida Business Daily. "If I feel sick or something, or I can take a bit off if I don't ... want to go out if I'm not feeling well. If I had a part like a part-time job somewhere, I don't think they would be as flexible as doing this."

An Edison Research report conducted in December 2018, "The Gig Economy," surveyed 1,044 gig workers and found that for 44% of gig workers, income from their freelance job was their primary source of income, and that for 53% of gig workers between the ages of 18-34 gig work was their primary source of income. The report also found that gig employees are more likely to be young, with 38% of 18-34 year olds being part of the gig economy.

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