subcontracted work

Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS)

Shelly Steward — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 03:27:56 +0000

Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS) Shelly Steward Wed, 06/06/2018 - 23:27

How is it collected?

The CWS is a supplement to the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) by the Census Bureau for BLS. The CPS in collected via telephone and in person among all non-institutionalized persons age 16 and over. About 60,000 households are sampled each month. The supplement was administered to a sample of respondents who reported working for pay in the past week.

Who collects it?

The CWS is administered by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What is it measuring?

The Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS) estimates the number of American workers in contingent and alternative arrangements as their main job in the past week. Contingent arrangements are short-term or temporary jobs, which workers do not expect to last. Alternative arrangements are particular types of relationships between workers and the individual or company who pays them, including 1) independent contractors, 2) temporary help agency workers, 3) on-call workers, and 4) workers provided by contract firms. It also gathers information on demographics, industry, and access to benefits.

In 2017 and 2023, respondents were asked if they used online platforms to arrange jobs or tasks, either online or offline.

What does it tell us?

In 2023, 10.2 percent of the workforce were engaged in alternative arrangements as their main job, including 7.4 percent as independent contractors, 2.8 1.7 as on-call workers, and 0.5 percent as contract firm workers. 4.3 percent had contingent jobs, which they did not expect to last. There was some overlap between these two categories.

In 2017, 10.1 percent of the workforce was engaged in alternative arrangements as their main job, and 3.8 percent was engaged in contingent arrangements. There was slight overlap between the two categories. About 1 percent of the workforce used apps to arrange work.

In 2005, 10.7 percent of the workforce was engaged in an alternative arrangements as their main job in the past week. 4.1 percent of the workforce was engaged in a contingent work arrangement.

Considerations

The CWS is one of the most rigorous studies of alternative work. However, it only asks about workers' main jobs—the job for which they worked the most hours—meaning it leaves out any supplemental or occasional work. In addition, it relies on workers correctly self-identifying their own employment arrangement.

How to access this data?

Data, when available, can be found on the BLS website.

Study tags

independent contractors

Reports

Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements - May 2017; 2018; Bureau of Labor Statistics; US Department of Labor;

Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements - July 2023; 2024; Bureau of Labor Statistics; US Department of Labor;

General Social Survey

ilrweb admin — Fri, 11 May 2018 19:11:11 +0000

General Social Survey ilrweb admin Fri, 05/11/2018 - 15:11

How is it collected?

The GSS uses a probability sample of the American population and consists primarily of in-person interviews. It is conducted biennially, with a sample of approximately 3,000. Different modules, or sets of questions, are asked in different years. The Quality of Working Life Module was most recently collected in 2010 and 2014. In 2014, the response rate was 69.2 percent.

Who collects it?

The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, with support from the National Science Foundation.

What is it measuring?

The General Social Survey (GSS) collects a wide range of information on the characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors of Americans. The Quality of Worklife Module asks questions about work arrangements, asking respondents if they are independent contractors/consultants/freelancers, temp-agency workers, on-call workers, contract-company workers, or regular, permanent employees. The module also asks a range of questions about work conditions and experiences, satisfaction, and earnings and benefits.

What does it tell us?

In 2014, 20.3 percent of the population was engaged in independent contracting, on-call, temp-agency, or contract-company work as their main job.

Considerations

The GSS is designed to gauge attitudes, behaviors, and relative counts, rather than to estimate the overall size of particular groups. In addition, questions about work arrangements are only asked among respondents who identified as employed, and so self-employed individuals are not included in the above numbers.

How to access this data?

GSS data are available via the GSS website directly, the GSS Data Explorer, the Roper Center, and ICPSR.

Study tags

demographics

independent contractors

Reports

Contingent Workforce: Size, Characteristics, Earnings, and Benefits; 2015; GAO; GAO;

The Gig Economy: Research and Policy Implications of Regional, Economic, and Demographic Trends; 2017; Ben Gitis, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, and Will Rinehart; American Action Forum and Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative;

Logo

American Life Panel

ilrweb admin — Fri, 11 May 2018 19:08:12 +0000

American Life Panel ilrweb admin Fri, 05/11/2018 - 15:08

How is it collected?

This one-time 2015 survey was administered through the RAND American Life Panel, an online panel recruited using a compilation of methods, including a group recruited for the University of Michigan Internet panel, a random-digit-dial sample, and a snowball sample. There were 3,850 responses, and a response rate of 63.9 percent. Results were weighted to increase representativeness.

Who collects it?

Economists Lawrence Katz of Harvard and Alan Krueger of Princeton contracted RAND to collect the data as part of its American Life Panel.

What is it measuring?

The number of workers who report being engaged in alternative work arrangements as their main job, including temp-agency, on-call, contract-company and freelancing work. In addition, the survey asks about online platform participation, industry, and income level.

What does it tell us?

The original analysis estimated that 15.8 percent of the workforce held an independent work arrangement as their main job the prior week, including freelancing, temp-agency, contract-company, and on-call work. In 2019, the authors released a revised paper, adjusting for cyclical effects and methodological differences, and estimated that the rise in alternative arrangements between 2005 and 2015 was 1 to 2 percentage points, rather than 5.

Considerations

The results are not fully comparable to the BLS CWS, due to differences in sampling and response, as discussed by the authors in the 2019 working paper. Although it was a helpful measure in between iterations of the CWS, it is not as relevant today.

How to access this data?

RAND ALP data are available to registered researchers.

Study tags

demographics

independent contractors