Working a single job is becoming increasingly challenging for funding the average American lifestyle.
A recent poll by financial advice site Bankrate and conducted by YouGov revealed that one-third of all adults in the U.S. take on secondary jobs or “side hustles” to cover bills and afford discretionary extras.
More than 1 in 3 (36 percent) of people with side hustles use the additional income to pay for regular living expenses like rent and groceries, and 32 percent believe they will always need this work to make ends meet, according to commentary accompanying the poll. “Even as inflation cools, the high percentage of people with side hustles shows many Americans don’t feel they can sustain their lifestyles on one income alone,” the site noted.
Though the site did not specify which types of side hustles people are engaging in, it broadly defined the term as “any extra income someone earns on the side of their main source of income.” Generation Z is the most likely to have a side hustle, with nearly half of them indicating they do. This number decreases with older generations.
An even more sobering statistic is the percentage of people who believe they will always need a side hustle to meet their financial needs. While Gen Z appeared the most optimistic about eventually not needing an additional income source, older generations were far less confident.