While Living Paycheck to Paycheck, Workers Fret Over Economy
In a recent survey by Wonolo of gig workers versus corporate workers, researchers found some stark differences household financial situations of both cohorts, but similarities in how both groups are dealing with the economy.
The authors of the report found that 25 percent of corporate workers surveyed said they don’t feel they can “comfortably pay for all the necessities for their family with a full-time job income.” This compares to 32 percent of gig workers feeling the same. And nearly double the number of gig workers, 53 percent, “indicated that they have fewer than 15 days of PTO compared to corporate workers (at 28 percent),” the report noted.
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When it comes to retirement savings, Wonolo, which is a staffing solutions firm, found that almost double the number of gig workers (48 percent) than corporate workers (27 percent) “report not having a 401(k) through their job or work, making saving for the future more difficult.”
The survey included 1,000 gig workers and 1,000 corporate workers in the U.S., and reported that 55 percent of gig workers and 42 percent of workers in full-time corporate jobs are living paycheck to paycheck. Wonolo said the survey also found that about three in four corporate and gig workers “worried about their financial health if a recession were to happen in the next year.”
The findings mirror other recent reports on inflation, job security and the economy. In a survey of consumer households from the Lending Club and Pymnts, the share of respondents living paycheck to paycheck who have issues paying bills, including health care, stood at 48 percent. The survey also found that earners with incomes over $200,000 who said they live paycheck to paycheck came in at 28 percent. The report also found that 55 percent of respondents said they had “limited spending capacity.”
In response to the high number of households living paycheck to paycheck, banks such as Chase, Capital One and Wells Fargo, among others, are now offering early access to payroll deposits. And many banks, including Citi and Chase, have eliminated overdraft fees.
It appears that inflation is to blame for much of these financial woes. In the Wonolo research, the company found that 92 percent of corporate workers and 85 percent of gig workers said the costs of their total household bills have jumped in the past six months. But just 41 percent of corporate workers and 42 percent of gig workers said they received an increase in pay over the past six months.
Other key findings showed about the same number of corporate and gig workers, 75 and 78 percent, respectively, are worried about the state of their financial health if a recession occurs in the next 12 months. “Both gig and corporate workers worry most about not being able to pay their essential bills (28 percent of gig workers, 25 percent of corporate workers) and not being able to pay their rent or mortgage (24 percent gig, 19 percent corporate),” the authors of the report noted. “Gig workers also worry about not being able to pay for emergencies (17 percent), while corporate workers worry about losing their job (21 percent).”
One area where gig worker conditions varied from corporate workers was in the amount of flexibility they had. “While 61 percent of both corporate and gig workers have set work hours that can be adjusted in special cases, gig workers tend to have more flexibility overall, with 19 percent of gig workers able to work any time of day they want as long as they get their work done, compared to 14 percent of corporate workers,” the authors of the report said.
