Although working more than one job to avoid economic hardship is not a new strategy for U.S. workers, official estimates suggest it is infrequent. These may not, however, include new conceptualizations of work like “side hustles.” To understand who works multiple jobs and its effect on economic well-being, we expanded the definition and used the Survey of Income and Program Participation to estimate (a) prevalence and (b) the effect of secondary earnings on household poverty. We found that 18.2% of households held multiple jobs and that secondary earnings reduced household poverty, and more effectively for consistent multiple jobholders. Integrating this understanding into economic well-being practice and policy interventions that expand employee benefits could better support multiple jobholding as a poverty reduction strategy.
AraK.AkbarA. (2016). A study of impact of moonlighting practices on job satisfaction of the university teachers. Bulletin of Education and Research, 38(1), 101–116.
2.
AthertonA.FariaJ. R.WheatleyD.WuD.WuZ. (2016). The decision to moonlight: Does second job holding by the self-employed and employed differ?Industrial Relations, 47(3), 279–299. https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12135
AutorD. H.DornD. (2013). The growth of low-skill service jobs and the polarization of the U.S. labor market. American Economic Review, 103(5), 1553–1597. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.5.1553
5.
AverettS. L. (2001). Moonlighting: Multiple motives and gender differences. Applied Economics, 33, 1391–1410.
BrownS.SullivanS. L.ManingerB. (2015). Moonlighting and morale: The impact on educators who moonlight and how classroom teaching suffers. The Journal of Multidisciplinary Graduate Research, 1(8), 1–17.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2019). Labor force statistics from the Current Population Survey: Table 36. Multiple jobholders by selected characteristics. https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat36.htm
12.
CookC.DiamondR.HallJ.ListJ.OyerP. (2019). The gender earnings gap in the gig economy: Evidence from over a million rideshare drivers (No. w24732). https://doi.org/10.3386/w24732
DeParleJ. (2004). American dream: Three women, ten kids, and a nation’s drive to end welfare (1st ed.). Viking Adult.
15.
DickeyH.WatsonV.ZangelidisA. (2011). Is it all about money? An examination of the motives behind moonlighting. Applied Economics, 43(26), 3767–3774. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036841003724403
16.
EdinK.LeinL. (1997). Making ends meet: How single mothers survive welfare and low-wage work. Russell Sage Foundation.
17.
EdinK.ShaeferH. L. (2016). $2.00 a day: Living on almost nothing in America (Reprint ed.). Mariner Books.
18.
ForsbergL. (2009). Managing time and childcare in dual-earner families: Unforeseen consequences of household strategies. Acta Sociologica, 52(2), 162–175.
HirschB. T.HusainM. M.WintersJ. V. (2016). Multiple job holding, local labor markets, and the business cycle. IZA Journal of Labor Economics, 5(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40172-016-0044-x
KallebergA. L. (2009). Precarious work, insecure workers: Employment relations in transition. American Sociological Review, 74(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400101
25.
KallebergA. L. (2011). Good jobs, bad jobs: The rise of polarized and precarious employment systems in the United States, 1970s-2000s. Russell Sage Foundation.
26.
KimmelJ.ConwayK. S. (2001). Who moonlights and why? Evidence from the SIPP. Industrial Relations, 40(1), 89–120.
McClintockW.TaylorN.WarrenJ. (2004). Effects of multiple job holding on the work-life balance. Labour, Employment and Work in New Zealand. https://doi.org/10.26686/lew.v0i0.1276
SherradenM. S.BirkenmaierJ.CollinsJ. M. (2018). Financial capability and asset building in vulnerable households: Theory and practice. Oxford University Press.
