Independent Contracting, Self-Employment, and Gig Work: Evidence from California Tax Data / Annette Bernhardt, Christopher Campos, Allen Prohofsky, Aparna Ramesh, Jesse Rothstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bernhardt, Annette.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Campos, Christopher.

Prohofsky, Allen.

Ramesh, Aparna.

Rothstein, Jesse.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30327.

NBER working paper series no. w30327

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

We use de-identified data from California personal income tax returns to measure the frequency and nature of independent contracting and self-employment work in California. We identify this work by the presence of a Schedule C on the tax return and/or the receipt of a Form 1099 information return. We estimate that 14.4% of California workers aged 18-64 in tax year 2016 had some independent contracting or self-employment income; about half of these workers also had earnings from traditional W-2 jobs during the year. We find that only a small share (1.4%) of workers had earnings from online labor platforms (often called gig work). Workers with low earnings were significantly more likely to earn independent contracting or self-employment income and to rely primarily or exclusively on that income. We explore the characteristics of workers engaging in independent contracting and self-employment and their distribution across family type, geography, and industry.

Notes:

Print version record

August 2022.