Nineteen percent of informal workers in the EIWA survey, for example, were engaged in three or more online and/or offline informal paid work activities in the prior six months, and 25 percent indicated that informal and contingent work activities have been “very much” or “somewhat” a regular and consistent source of their monthly income.
Results regarding the ages of workers attracted to nontraditional work vary: Katz and Krueger find that the share of contingent work arrangements increases with age, while the Upwork study finds that freelancing is more prevalent among the young. The earnings experiences of contingent workers appear to span a wide range.