Week after week brings news of millions more Americans joining the unemployment rolls, but according to a new poll undertaken by Data for Progress, Americans, including a majority of Democrats and Republicans, believe that independent contractors, freelancers, and those working in the gig economy, such as ride-hail drivers and delivery people working for app-based services like Door Dash and Instacart deserve some of the same employment protections already given to salaried employees.
As the study reminds us, unlike most other developed nations, and many developing nations, the United States lacks universal social welfare programs, whether it is health or unemployment insurance, parental leave, or accessible housing. And such a reminder is all the more germane as coronavirus exposes just how many workers are shut out of traditional state unemployment schemes.
We need look no further at the chaos that surrounded the lockdown in New York State where much of the economy relies on many non-traditional workers, whether it’s food delivery or graphic design. In addition to being unable to handle the sheer scale of unemployment, the Department of Labor had no response to such profound employment losses outside state-covered work, leaving it to scramble for answers, which included Pandemic Unemployment Insurance, a program that is set to end in July and is already under attack from Congress and GOP think tanks.
However, according to Data for Progress, there is bipartisan support for including gig workers and freelancers in a number of protections. Some of the other important findings from the poll include:
