1 in 3 Americans Rely on a Side Hustle for Everyday Bills – Is This Sustainable?

Picking up a job on the side used to be something you did when you needed extra money. You might decide to work a second job to buy some amazing holiday gifts, for example, or to save up for your dream car.

That’s all changed. According to Bankrate’s 2019 Side Hustle Survey, a shocking 37% of side hustlers are using the extra money that they are earning to cover routine living expenses. This means that these side gigs are no longer optional or temporary for many people — they are a part of everyday life that can continue for years and leave people with too little time and too much stress. 

So, why is this happening, and is it sustainable?

Why side-hustle culture isn’t a solution to financial woes

Turning to a side hustle to help pay the bills may be a growing trend, but it’s not a good one. Many side gigs, by nature, provide irregular or unreliable income, and often not very much of it. You can’t count on a steady amount coming in as you would with your regular paycheck and you may not earn a very impressive wage.

You’re also often responsible for covering the employer’s portion of your FICA taxes, which means that you effectively make a lower hourly rate than it may seem on the surface. And you don’t get things like sick leave, paid holidays, benefits, or even workers’ comp protection in case you get hurt on the job.  

All of this means the income you’re counting on could dry up in an instant, leaving you without the money to pay the bills that you’d earmarked the funds for. And that’s not even to mention burnout. It’s one thing to work two jobs for a short time — and it’s completely different to do it for years on end to pay the bills. 

Long-term side work could mean less time to see your family, take care of your health, or indulge in your hobbies — which can make you less happy overall and increase your risk of something going wrong in your life. While many Americans have been forced to turn to it as a solution to their inability to cover costs, it’s simply not a great one. 

Why are so many people turning to side gigs?

While there are huge downsides to relying on side hustle income, it’s easy to see why so many people do.

Wage growth has not kept pace with inflation over the long term, the minimum wage has not been updated on the federal level since 2009, many middle-class jobs have been disappearing due to AI, robots, and global outsourcing, and employers now demand much more for much less pay, with sometimes even basic entry-level customer service jobs demanding college degrees.  The post-pandemic era inflation surge only accelerated these trends. 

Other factors are working against everyday Americans too, including high interest rates making home-buying difficult, and fewer opportunities to get ahead as college has grown so astronomically expensive that you need to either be very wealthy or willing to sign onto tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to get a degree in most cases. 

While you can debate the reasons for these economic conditions, the fact is they exist and people are coping with them the best way they know how — which means working these second jobs. 

What can you do if you’re relying on a side gig?

If you’re relying on a side gig, you’ll want to make sure you try to diversify your income as much as you can. You may not want just one type of side job, for example, in case that dries up. You can explore different ways to make extra income so you’re prepared as the economy changes. 

You can also work on developing stronger employment skills so you can potentially find one better-paying job that covers the bills. Cutting spending can help as well, especially if you can eliminate or reduce one large fixed expense (like moving to a cheaper apartment), so you can give yourself more wiggle room each month without having to constantly sacrifice.

A financial advisor can help you explore ways to try to live on the income you earn from your regular job, or can work with you to make sure you’re making the most of your side gig income so you can set yourself up for a more secure future. 

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