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Senior Citizens Hit the Road For Uber
HughPickens.com writes: Elizabeth Olsen writes at the NYT that a growing number of older Americans are driving for Uber or its competitor Lyft to augment their retirement income. Older drivers are prized because they usually own their own cars, have adequate auto insurance and, according to insurance statistics, have fewer crashes. For most senior drivers, the biggest advantage is the extra income. Many of those who continue working after 65 do so because they would be too poor otherwise, according to a new report from the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute that found the current retirement system inadequate. But driving for a ride-booking service, some retirees said, also can offer more than money. For George Cameron, a 65-year-old former marine in Mechanicsville, Virginia, retirement was not all it cracked up to be. Chiefly, it was dull. "Although I've got a few community things I'm involved in," says Cameron, "I sit at home and listen to the news. And my wife says I'm getting too close to the dog."
Some drivers say it is a great chance to be independent and earn extra cash on their own schedule. Retirees are insulated from many of the shortcomings of the gig economy. But critics say Uber vastly exaggerates the amount of money a driver can make driving full-time. Its workers are contractors, and don't receive benefits. As with most gig economy work, there's no such thing as a career path. But many seniors don't need (second) careers. Not all of them need full-time work. Forty million of them already have health insurance through Medicare. Some say it is exploitation of older people who work as independent contractors, without any benefits, because their age means they have a harder time finding full-time employment. "You have to work close to 50 hours a week to survive," says Musse Bahta who says he has to spend more time on the road since Uber lowered the per-mile fare to $1.35.
Some drivers say it is a great chance to be independent and earn extra cash on their own schedule. Retirees are insulated from many of the shortcomings of the gig economy. But critics say Uber vastly exaggerates the amount of money a driver can make driving full-time. Its workers are contractors, and don't receive benefits. As with most gig economy work, there's no such thing as a career path. But many seniors don't need (second) careers. Not all of them need full-time work. Forty million of them already have health insurance through Medicare. Some say it is exploitation of older people who work as independent contractors, without any benefits, because their age means they have a harder time finding full-time employment. "You have to work close to 50 hours a week to survive," says Musse Bahta who says he has to spend more time on the road since Uber lowered the per-mile fare to $1.35.
My retired father used to have a modest recycling operation that ran next to his trailer home. He would help a neighbor dismantle old vending machines to avoid expensive county dump fees, cleaning up and providing free wood for a retired neighbor to build chicken coops for sale and separating the metals to take to the recycling center. That's how he spent his free time and made $50 a month at the recycling center. Someone complained to the county and the county wasn't thrilled that someone was circumventing those expensive dump fees. So he was ordered to cease operations or face prosecution for running an illegal business from home.
but that doesn't mean there isn't one. There are lots and lots of people who just want to stop working at the age of 65. There are lots of people we really _need_ to stop working at the age of 65.
The other problem is what these people do to wages. It's funny how discussions about supply and demand go out the window when we talk about wages and standard of living going _down_. The phrase you're looking for is "The hollowing out of the middle class". They're driving down wages for drivers, which in turn means folks who might have been happy making a modest living driving are now desperately trying to find a career that pays them enough for food/rent. A few of 'em make it in other professions, like computer tech. Then the computer tech's wages go down and a few of those end up pushed into becoming programmers and systems analysts, driving down those wages. Here's another good phrase: "Race to the bottom".
This isn't the sharing economy. It's not the gig economy. It's the same old song and dance that happens when there's an over supply of labor without social programs to compensate. If you're one of the winners, bully for you. You got yours, fuck me (another popular phrase). But it's a winner take all economy. Like a lottery. Statistically if you're reading this you're not winning.
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A friend of mine's dad retired with a good pension. He didn't really need any money but he got bored and wanted to maybe have a little more play money so he took a job doing equipment maintenance at a local potato chip (Frito Lay) plant. He liked it okay and he was actually making more money than he had before he retired. Being good at his job they started putting more and more on him and he was working almost every weekend overtime. His daughter was getting married so he told them he needed Saturday off for the wedding and they said no problem but then the day before the wedding they asked him if he could come in to work and then leave 2 hours before the wedding. He told them he didn't really need the job and he was working way more than he wanted anyway, so he quit.