Independent work: choice, necessity, and the gig economy

23
18
23
26
20
25
24
27
23
11
15
9
6
15
16
15
10
3
11
19
9
9
16
13
16
12
19
15
3
11
11
6
16
6
13
9
Student
1
Caregiver
2
Retiree
Other
3
Disabled
United
States
94
142
100% =
EU-15
Sweden
14
4
3
Belgium
Poland
Spain
United
Kingdom
20
28
23
France
16
Germany

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76
McKinsey Global Institute
3. How independent work may evolve in the future
likely to own property. A quarter of Uber’s drivers are age 50 or older. Furthermore, our 
survey showed that in the United Kingdom, adults over age 55 participate in independent 
work at a higher rate (39 percent) than adults ages 25 to 54 (31 percent); the same general 
pattern holds in the United States, Sweden, and Germany. The trend is stronger when 
only seniors over age 65 are included; 48 percent of seniors with earned income in the 
United States and 57 percent of those in the EU-15 earn through independent work. This is 
significantly higher than the roughly 30 percent of prime working-age adults in the United 
States and the EU-15 (Exhibit 26).