The gig economy has received much negative press in recent years. Despite this, it continues to go from strength to strength.
Gig workers are right at the foundation of the new global economy, especially in the UK where thousands of people are joining the gig revolution every single month.
In the newspapers it is always doom and gloom about the gig economy. They say Uber drivers are underpaid, while Deliveroo drivers have too much competition, and Airbnb owners have many legal problems.
With that being said, it doesn’t seem to be all doom and gloom, as new research from The Paris School of Economics shows us that rather than gig workers facing pain, many are actually completely sane.
The gig workers ARE alright is the message from Paris. They found 32% of gig workers have good mental health, which is higher than workers in traditional jobs.
In other words, yes, there are still problems and challenges with working in the gig economy, but it appears the gig workers themselves have found joy in the ability to work for themselves and set their own hours.
The research from Paris went on to find that gig workers have better ability to concentrate while experiencing a boost to their self confidence. Not only that, but self employed gig workers also found their self worth and sense of happiness was better than ever before.
No doubt this has a lot to do with being their own boss and avoiding long and tiring commutes. Many gig workers actually work from their home and never have to leave the front door, so they can relax and put their feet up.
When the boffins in Paris were testing the mental health of gig workers they measured brain activity on a score from 0 to 36.
What they found was gig workers have an average score of 24, which is 8 points more than traditional employees.
Also, another interesting fact is that gig workers, on average, drink 200% less alcohol than their employed cousins. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that many gig workers drive for companies such as Uber and Deliveroo? Perhaps, but it also is due to less stress, if you ask me.
Poor mental health has become very expensive for the UK economy, with an estimated 91 million working days lost each and every year. Not only that, but in the USA they estimate poor mental health has cost their economy $37.5 Billion Dollars.
If gig workers really do have better mental health, then it wouldn’t surprise me to see more employers hiring gig workers in the future.
