Working one job is becoming an increasingly difficult way to support the average American lifestyle.
A recent poll by financial advice site Bankrate, conducted by the firm YouGov, found that one-third of all adults in the U.S. are taking on second jobs or “side hustles” to pay bills and fund discretionary extras.
“More than 1 in 3 (36 percent) side hustlers use side hustle income to pay for regular living expenses, like rent and groceries, and 32 percent of side hustlers think they will always need that work to make ends meet,” the site noted in commentary accompanying the poll. “Even as inflation cools, the high percentage of people with a side hustle shows many Americans don’t feel they can sustain their lifestyles on one income alone.”
The site did not specify which side hustles people are taking on, defining the term broadly as “any extra income someone earns on the side of their main source of income.” Generationally speaking, Gen Z tends to be the most likely to have one, with nearly half of them reporting that they had a side hustle. The number shrinks with older generations.
Perhaps more sobering is the percentage of people who felt they would always need a side hustle to ensure all their financial needs are met. Though Gen Z was the most optimistic that they wouldn’t always need another source of income, older generations were far less certain.