Independent work: choice, necessity, and the gig economy

our European survey countries
Hours per day per person spent on each activity
Total time spent on activities that could become paid household work
1.06
0.12
0.53
1.55
0.32
1.42
0.05
0.47
0.82
0.51
1.93
0.09
3.26
2.26
3.12
0.08
0.74
1.55
0.75
Driving 
children
Shopping
House-
work
Driving 
self
1.00
1.92
0.63
0.05
0.06
0.71
2.00
0.46
3.60
3.23
3.35
United 
States
United 
Kingdom
Sweden
Germany
France
Spain

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McKinsey Global Institute
Independent work: Choice, necessity, and the gig economy
7. LABOR MARKET CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SIX SURVEY COUNTRIES
One of the most surprising aspects of the survey results was the degree of similarity in 
the contours of the independent workforce across countries. However, each country’s 
macroeconomic context does shape the prevalence of independent work and how much of 
it is by necessity. 
The following pages profile each of our survey countries in turn, compiling a number of labor 
market indicators along with estimates of the prevalence of independent work and the size 
of specific workforce segments.
Exhibit A14
SOURCE: American Time Use Survey (2014); US Census; McKinsey Global Institute analysis