School of Political Science, Public Affairs, Legal and Security Studies Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-12-2025
Abstract
The emergence of the so-called gig economy has reshaped the labor market and, potentially, the politics of the safety net. Much of the American welfare state is based on a traditional model of employment, excluding most gig workers from benefits like subsidized employer-provided health insurance and unemployment insurance. Despite these trends, there is little research on how these changes might affect politics. Are gig workers likely to become a relevant constituency on social welfare and other issues? To address this, we conducted a unique online survey examining policy attitudes and political behaviors among gig workers compared with traditional workers. Our findings indicate that people who view gig work as their “main job” tend to lack access to traditional social insurance and employer-provided benefits, as expected, and rely more on means-tested assistance programs (e.g., food stamps). Consequently, gig workers exhibit higher support than traditional workers for expanding social welfare programs, and are more engaged on issues that affect gig workers. In terms of participation, gig workers are less likely to vote but more likely to engage in nonvoting political activities like protest than traditional workers. This study contributes to the understanding of social welfare politics in the new era of the labor market and highlights a growing constituency for expanding the safety net.
Recommended Citation
Bae, Juhyun, and Jake Haselswerdt. "The Safety Net and the Gig Economy: Policy Attitudes and Political Participation." Perspectives on Politics (2025): 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592725103411
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Perspectives on Politics
DOI
10.1017/S1537592725103411
Comments
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Political Science Association. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.