Dual Job Holding and the Gig Economy: Allocation of Effort across Primary and Gig Jobs

Abstract

This article explored motivations for allocating effort between “gig” and primary jobs using a sample of Amazon Mechanical Turk workers. We found that main job hour constraints, a commonly cited rationale for traditional moonlighting, were a motivation for men but not for women. Other factors affecting effort were also gender specific: Men were driven to spend more time on gig jobs to increase their incomes, while women were motivated by insecurity in their main job. Women, though not men, who were more depressed based on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale earned less in their gig economy job. Finally, higher risk aversion reduced income from gig work for men, but not women. We concluded that motivations for effort allocated between the primary and gig jobs differ from those identified in past literature as important for traditional moonlighting decisions.

The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital between Motivational Orientations and Their Organizational Consequences

“…One aspect to be discussed is the possibility that some contextual variables may affect those relationships, e.g., the expansion of gig economy or teleworking, where characteristics like age [ 65 ], gender [ 66 ], or design of the labor platform [ 67 ] can be crucial to define the motivation and orientation towards work performance.…”

Adapting social protection to the needs of multiple jobholders in Denmark, the United Kingdom and Germany

“…Women are more likely to work fewer hours than men in their primary job and use multiple jobholding as a way to increase income-earning hours (Preston and Wright, 2020). Women's motivation to work in multiple jobs to obtain additional income is often driven by a higher sense of insecurity in their primary employment compared with equivalent men (Doucette and Bradford, 2019). Nevertheless, there are country differences: gender differences are more pronounced in the United Kingdom (4.7 per cent of women compared with 2.8 per cent of men) and in Germany, where 6 per cent of women have two jobs compared with 4.9 per cent of men; in Denmark the gender difference is negligible (7.4 per cent of women compared with 7.2 per cent of men).…”

Gig Workers with Disabilities: Opportunities, Challenges, and Regulatory Response

“…As said, gig work often serves as a necessary dual or second part-time source of income. If not properly managed and reported, this additional income may jeopardize the receipt of governmental welfare benefits [ 58 ]. In the United States, the Social Security Administration is the primary source of governmental disability work insurance (Social Security Disability Insurance or “SSDI”) and income and health cash benefits (Supplemental Security Income or “SSI”), as well as Medicaid and Medicare health insurance.…”

“…The possibility of exceeding the income limits for governmental benefits, sometimes called an “income cliff,” acts as a disincentive for disabled recipients of governmental benefits to pursue additional income via gig work [ 58 ]. This disincentive has a real impact, even though large numbers of people with disabilities who are working still live below the poverty level.…”

“…These factors, in turn, interplay with family status, child-care responsibilities, gender, age, health and monetary considerations, and other conditions of life. These varied interactions require prompt additional study before effective regulatory schemes can be developed [ 38 , 58 , 79 ].…”