More and more Americans are taking on a side hustle job nowadays. A recent survey conducted by Insuranks, a small-business insurance marketplace, in 1,000 samples shows that 93%, that is about 930 of working Americans have a side hustle to earn extra cash in 2022.
When expanding the research scope, around 44% of Americans are working at least one extra job for a living, which amounts to roughly 70 million people. 40% of Americans have side jobs, up from 6% a year ago, and an additional 28% said that they take on a secondary gig for a better living.
And the trend continues to grow. Research by the Side Hustle Nation indicates an additional 60 million planned to start a side hustle in 2021. As stated in CouponBirds, providing users a variety of freelance platform tips and easy access, the traffic to freelancing platforms is continuing to surge. In May 2022, the traffic has increased by 22% compared to Oct 2021, Indicating that the number of people accessing the freelancer platform has reached a peak over time and is likely to get higher in the future.
Why Side Hustle?
After the epidemic of COVID-19, we are in an environment that we have never experienced before. The whole world is being forced into a new era, and so is the United States.
First, financially. Since Jan 2021, the growth of the GDP rate in the US has been slowing down, with a negative growth rate of -5.1% to -30.2% in the first half of 2020. Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Labor Department data published, for the 12 months ended May 2022, the annual inflation rate is 8.6%, which is the largest annual increase since December 1981 and after rising 8.3% previously.
Despite the strike that COVID-19 brings to the economy, as people adapt to the pandemic, their appetite for consumption is returning. Sourced to the data stated by the global economy, after the initial shock in the first quarter of 2020, the value of household consumption in the US is continuing to rise, from 3274.4, 2020 Q2 to 4167.5, 2022 Q1. Recovering consumption combined with falling economic growth leads to a declining economy, a decrease in wages, and a reducing quality of people’s lives.
Under these circumstances, to make ends meet, more people tend to work a side hustle.
Your Individual Side Hustle
Apart from the external pressure, a lot of side hustle workers also stated that they choose to work side hustles because of their own interest and need. According to a survey conducted by side hustle nation, 38.7% said their primary motivation for seeking a side hustle is – personal freedom, which is the biggest component of all parts.
Based on over 1,700 survey responses from Side Hustle Nation, the most popular types of hustle ranked from highest to lowest are: online business, freelancing and consulting, E-commerce, investing, self-publishing, local services, YouTube, and software/apps. Most of them have flexible work locations and hours, and it requires more working inspiration and better working conditions.
The COVID-19 era has also brought new forms of work for people. In order to maintain social distance and reduce the risk of cluster infections, governments require people to telecommute from home, which is a great way to balance work and life and keep themselves safe from infection. Working from home also provides a convenient environment for conducting side hustles.
What You Can Get From Side Hustles
As it was mentioned above, under the circumstances of the declining economy, working side hustle is a good way to earn more money. According to the survey conducted by side hustle nation, The average side hustle brings in $1,122 a month, but the median income is much lower – just $200 a month. Not that much as people imagine. However, considering the time one pays for the side hustles, the survey shows that the average side hustler spends 11-16 hours per week on their business. Combined with the average earnings, that works out to an average of $16-23 an hour, a little lower than the average hourly rate of US workers of $32.08 an hour. But, given that this is the sum of the main business and the side business, the result seems reasonable.
Besides money, what do we get out of this side hustle? The most important thing is satisfaction. Once you have the time and energy to do something else, it’s easy to choose a job that really interests you. Thus, you can get a lot of self-satisfaction and personal freedom from side hustles.
You can also get a general boost. Side hustles require flexibility and various abilities, aside from the full-time job you are taking. Rather than mechanical repeating work, side hustles are often short-term with changing needs, which needs you to be a compound talent. Conducting a side hustle job you are really interested in is good for one’s growth in self-development in many ways.
Problems Emerge From Side Hustles
With the booming needs and increasing behaviors of side hustles, there are also many problems emerging. Lack of sleep, eating and enough relaxing, Side hustles can definitely take the time of rest from workers. And with rest time declined, there will be many hidden threats to their health. According to a survey by Insuranks, only 2% of side hustlers have business insurance for their side hustle. 92% of them have never checked if their side hustle provides insurance, and an average business insurance cost for a side hustle is $33 a month ($400 per year). Without complete commercial insurance, health problems can go unnoticed, with dire consequences.
Side hustles also will be able to steal the time with families and friends, for parents it becomes impossible to balance full-time jobs, side hustles, and their babies. It also brings inevitable challenges for women who choose side hustles. In fact, it shows in the mentioned survey by Insuranks that the percentage of genders engaged in side jobs is 55% for men and 45% for women, indicating a dilemma women are facing in side hustle situations.
Growing Choice, Growing Trend
Everything new appears with both advantages and disadvantages, such as side hustles. However, in the new era of post-COVID, we are not able to avoid its emergence and popularity. As working side hustle is becoming a growing choice among Americans, it is becoming a growing common trend as well. New things often come with new challenges. What we can do is release our motivation, optimize the side hustle, embrace the challenges it brings us, adjust the unreasonable parts to avoid problems, and help us achieve a better life.
