Despite its pervasiveness in debates over the future of work, defining the “gig economy” in a consistent and meaningful fashion remains a challenge. This challenge hinders research to understand the prevalence and effects of nonstandard work, as well as efforts to design policy to
improve opportunities for nonstandard workers. While contending with fundamental limitations in the availability and applicability of data, this report attempts to empirically ground the discussion of “gig work” in a broad exploration of trends in independent contracting in Illinois. In order to do so, it is necessary to answer three basic questions: What do we mean when we say “gig work”? Why is it so difficult to describe “gig work” with confidence? What can we say about “gig work” as a whole in Illinois?
improve opportunities for nonstandard workers. While contending with fundamental limitations in the availability and applicability of data, this report attempts to empirically ground the discussion of “gig work” in a broad exploration of trends in independent contracting in Illinois. In order to do so, it is necessary to answer three basic questions: What do we mean when we say “gig work”? Why is it so difficult to describe “gig work” with confidence? What can we say about “gig work” as a whole in Illinois?