Katharina Buczek
Do you have a “side hustle?” A new report published by software company Zapier revealed that forty percent of Americans do. Nonetheless, these side gigs are not earning people as much money as you might think.
The idea of having a side hustle has grown in popularity over the past decade. And since December of 2020, the amount of Americans who reported working for a second source of income rose a staggering thirty-four percent. This may partly be due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising market inflation.
According to the report, which surveyed over two thousand U.S. adults this past May, men are also more likely to have a side hustle than women.
And perhaps unsurprisingly, Gen Z’ers and Millenials are twenty to thirty percent more likely than Gen X and Boomers to participate in a side gig.
The people who do have side hustles averaged about thirteen hours per week working on it. Moreover, forty-four percent of Americans are working less than ten hours.
In turn, “Americans who have a side hustle make, on average, $12,689 a year from it, with nearly two in five people saying they make $5,000 or more annually and nearly one in five people saying they make $15,000 or more annually,” the report found.
Automated and digital processes are also largely influencing the ability to have side hustles while working routine nine to five jobs.
About sixty-six percent of Americans with side hustles said they automate at least some of their business practices, while forty-eight percent of people said they use automation for half or more.
Still, the report questioned whether Americans’ side hustle salaries are worth the time investment. So, let’s do the math.
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