Funding the average American lifestyle with just one job is becoming increasingly difficult.
A recent poll by financial advice site Bankrate and research firm YouGov found that one-third of U.S. adults are taking on second-job “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,” Bankrate commented on the results. “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 poll did not specify which side hustles people are engaging in, broadly defining them as “any extra income someone earns on the side of their main source of income.” Generationally, Gen Z is the most likely to have a side hustle, with nearly half reporting that they do. The number decreases with older generations.
More concerning is the percentage of people who felt they would always need a side hustle to meet their financial needs. While Gen Z was the most optimistic that they wouldn’t always need additional income, older generations were far less certain.