Thursday, November 19, 2015

How To Make Money When Unemployed---With Uber, Flexible Work Helps Families Turn Car Payments Into Paychecks

How To Make Money When Unemployed or When You Need Extra Money

With Uber, Flexible Work Helps Families Turn Car Payments Into Paychecks


Cars are one of the most expensive assets a typical American family buys and maintains — yet they sit unused 96 percent of the time. There is no other item in which we invest so much money that we use so little. Driving with Uber means people can get more value out of this expensive asset. It means they can turn their car into an income generator. And riding with Uber can mean not having to own a car at all.

Increasingly, people do not talk about becoming “an Uber driver.” It’s a much simpler decision: I’m going to make some money while using my car. And for riders, it’s less about “do I take an Uber or a taxi” and more about “do I want to drive myself or take an Uber” and “which will save me time and stress?”

This answer to this question is beginning to have a real impact on personal car ownership - especially among millennials. Ten percent of millennials who ride with Uber have already changed their car ownership behavior, choosing to get rid of a personal vehicle or choosing not to make a car purchase because of Uber.

What this shows is something I know very well from studying political research for decades: universally and unequivocally, most people in America say they have too little money and too little time, and the two are closely connected. They wish they had more control of both. Uber and platforms like it helps solve for both of these pain points.

 Even though millions of jobs have been created as the economy has recovered, wages are growing at around the same rate as they did in 2010, and 47 percent of people in the U.S. say they would struggle to handle an unexpected $400 bill. One-third of those say they would have to borrow to pay it.

What’s clear is that demand for flexible, independent work has been swift and significant: Uber currently has 1.1 million active drivers on the platform globally. Here in the U.S., there are more than 400,000 active drivers taking at least four trips a month. Many more take only a trip or two to earn a little extra cash.

 On average, half of all drivers in the U.S. drive fewer than 10 hours a week. More than 40 percent drive fewer than 8 hours per week. This is crucial: for most people, driving with Uber is not even a part-time job: it’s just driving an hour or two a day, here or there, to help pay the bills.
And it adds up: so far in 2015, drivers have earned over $3.5 billion in the U.S.

Many people are driving with Uber to get the pay raise they have not received in their other jobs. Or to help themselves when they get in a tight spot. And drivers consistently report that what they value most about Uber is the flexibility of being able to work around their job, family, school, and other obligations.

In fact, nearly 90 percent of drivers say they choose Uber because they want to be their own boss and set their own schedule. This is in contrast to many other jobs that use “on-call” scheduling, where employees are called into work on very little notice when demand is high. In fact, a study by the University of Chicago found that half of all hourly workers now have no input at all over the schedule set by their employers.

With Uber, there is no schedule. Ever. People who drive with Uber decide for themselves whether they are going to work at any given time, and for how long. This flexibility and independence is key. Around 65 percent of drivers vary their hours from week to week by more than 25 percent. In other words, they want work that fits around their life — not the other way around.

Some approach work in the on-demand economy as if it’s a problem that needs solving. But when you look at the full picture of how people are using these platforms, it’s clear that these flexible, independent opportunities are part of the solution. As more drivers use the app to reach their income goals, and more riders rely on ridesharing to meet their needs, it’s not hard to imagine a future filled with more seamless, stress-free, and affordable transportation.

 What this shows is something I know very well from studying political research for decades: universally and unequivocally, most people in America say they have too little money and too little time, and the two are closely connected. They wish they had more control of both. Uber and platforms like it helps solve for both of these pain points.
 Even though millions of jobs have been created as the economy has recovered, wages are growing at around the same rate as they did in 2010, and 47 percent of people in the U.S. say they would struggle to handle an unexpected $400 bill. One-third of those say they would have to borrow to pay it.
What’s clear is that demand for flexible, independent work has been swift and significant: Uber currently has 1.1 million active drivers on the platform globally. Here in the U.S., there are more than 400,000 active drivers taking at least four trips a month. Many more take only a trip or two to earn a little extra cash. By David Plouffe







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