The Side Hustle Safety Net: Precarious Workers and Gig Work during COVID-19

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Creator
  • Ravenelle, A.J.
    • Affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Kowalski, K.C.
    • Affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Janko, E.
    • Affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Abstract
  • While social distancing measures are essential in limiting the impact of a pandemic, such measures are often less feasible for low-income groups such as precarious workers who continue to travel on public transit and are less able to practice social distancing measures. In this paper, based on in-depth remote interviews conducted from April 2020 through June 2020, with more than 130 gig and precarious workers in New York City, we find that precarious workers experience three main hurdles in regard to accessing unemployment assistance that can be broadly categorized as knowledge, sociological, and temporal/financial barriers. Drawing on worker interview responses, we have named these responses: (1) Didn’t Know, (2) Didn’t Want, and (3) Can’t Wait. These challenges have led workers to turn to gig and precarious work, further highlighting the inequities of the pandemic. As a result, for some workers, so-called “side hustles” have become their primary social safety net.
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Resource type
  • Article
Rights statement
  • In Copyright
License
  • Attribution 4.0 International
Journal title
  • Sociological Perspectives
Journal volume
  • 64
Journal issue
  • 5
Page start
  • 898
Page end
  • 919
Language
  • English
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  • Publisher
Funder
  • National Science Foundation, NSF: 2029924
ISSN
  • 0731-1214
Publisher
  • SAGE Publications Inc.

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