Nontraditional Work, Nontraditional Workers, and the Implications for Social Security

We use six panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to measure the short- and long-term financial security of individuals who have earnings from nontraditional work, such as side self-employment, side business, and platform-based earnings (i.e., Uber). We also examine whether current Social Security beneficiaries have earnings from nontraditional work to supplement benefits and look, prospectively, whether earnings from nontraditional work are likely to be incorporated into tax payments and benefits.