Workers on tap but income drying up? The potential implications for incomes and social protection of the ‘gig economy’
This chapter explores the issues on labour market and the tax and benefit system, focusing in particular on the rise of the so-called ‘on-demand economy’ or ‘gig economy’. Encompassing the image of the ‘gig’ — a sought after opportunity to perform and earn an income — the term seeks to capture a whole series of employment practices. From well-publicised activities such as those of Uber, the on-demand taxi app, to online marketplaces such as Etsy and accommodation platforms like Airbnb, there has been an increase in small-scale entrepreneurship. Ultimately, the rise in on-demand employment offers a number of challenges for the design and implementation of both social protection for the relief of poverty and efforts to prevent poverty. The chapter then studies similarities between the language of the ‘on-demand’ economy and the re-emergence of moralistic and pathological accounts of poverty.