Being part of That ‘Booming’ Economy cost’s Money, Personal Time and Health ….
The trend is also the result of a strong labor market that has made job opportunities more plentiful for people seeking to boost their incomes through gig work or earn money off their hobbies.
“It’s pro-cyclical, meaning that you increase the number of multiple-job holders during good times,” said Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Some “people may have multiple jobs because they need them. Alternatively, they may have multiple jobs because they’re able to get them,” Baker continued. “And it’s obviously a bit of both.”
Late last year, the share of U.S. workers with more than one job hit 5.3 percent of the workforce, the highest since 2019. Those levels were previously last reached during the Great Recession, according to Labor Department data. In some states, including Wisconsin, North Dakota and Hawaii, the percentage of workers with multiple jobs was roughly double the national average or around 10 percent in 2024.
Multiple-job holders who spoke with The Washington Post said that working extra jobs came at the cost of their sleep, mental health and time spent with their families. A high school English teacher in Prince George’s County, Maryland, said she sleeps four or five hours on nights she sells merchandise at Nationals Park in D.C. A Taco Bell manager in San Jose said that when he is able to get his desired hours at his second job at KFC, he rarely sees his kids….
…
“People are taking an additional job to make ends meet,” said Brad Hershbein, a senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research…
…
Monique Mcclain, an Uber driver in Nashville, has felt forced to sign up for increasingly more gig-economy apps to pay the rent on her one-bedroom, which has risen from $800 to $1,100 over the past two years. She also works warehouse shifts on several gig-economy platforms and takes on temporary assignments at convention centers for a staffing agency. Sometimes, she works 60 to 80 hours a week.
“I sleep between each of the different assignments — a four-hour window here and there,” Mcclain, 42, said. “I was recently put on medication for high blood pressure and heart problems. These jobs are hard on my body, but I have no choice….
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.