Uber Drivers and Other Gig Economy Workers Are Earning Half What They Did Five Years Ago

[DamianTV]

https://news.slashdot.org/story/18/0...five-years-ago

According to a new study by the JPMorgan Chase Instittue, drivers who transport people via apps (e.g. Uber, Lyft, Uber Eats, Postmates) made 53 percent less in 2017 than they did in 2013. Recode reports:

The average monthly payments to those who worked for a transportation app in a given month declined to $783 from $1,469. Meanwhile, people working for leasing apps -- Airbnb, Turo, Parklee and other apps that let you rent assets like your home, car or parking space -- saw their incomes from those platforms rise 69 percent to $1,736 on average.

This is happening as online gig work has become more popular, thanks in large part to the growth in the number of transportation jobs. The share of the working population that has participated in the online gig economy at any point in a year rose from less than 2 percent in 2013 to nearly 5 percent in 2018. There are a number of potential reasons why the average pay for gig economy drivers has gone down. It could be any or all of the below, according to JPMorgan: drivers on average are working fewer hours; demand hasn't increased to meet the increased number of drivers; trip prices have fallen; or platforms are paying drivers lower rates.

Zip will be in shortly to claim this is a lie.

[Brian4Liberty]

Supply and demand. More drivers means less pay.

Was surprised last weekend to have an Uber driver that spoke English without an accent. The first time in a long time. He was an older guy, so probably retired and trying to make some extra money.

[dannno]

https://news.slashdot.org/story/18/0...five-years-ago



Zip will be in shortly to claim this is a lie.

Zippy is not going to come along claiming the mainstream media is full of $#@!, that's my job..

Tell me, was it a lie a few years ago when they were claiming that Uber drivers weren't making any money back then?? Now all of a sudden they change their tune.. oh, they were making so much money!! But now they aren't.. even though back then they were claiming they weren't making any money too!! Why do you listen to them at all is my question?

I knew people pulling in $300-$500 on the weekends working like 10-15 hours.. that's about $30/hour and an extra $1200-$2000 per month on top of a full time job if they work every weekend.. but they didn't have to work every weekend because it was so lucrative.

Full time drivers who did the same thing and hit the weekends hard, and then also worked during the week would do pretty well also. Drivers who drove during the wrong times in the wrong areas didn't make much money.

I believe average hourly pay has gone down, the numbers may be exaggerated though.. they said it could be due to drivers working less hours. That doesn't affect the hourly rate.

I have a huge problem with the Uber drivers who protest trying to get full time benefits from Uber and guarenteed pay because that isn't how it works... The fact is we don't need a lot of full time drivers, we need drivers who can work during busy times like the weekends or rush hour, and then have another job to work when it's slower. Driving for Uber is a great second job or primary job, but it's not always a great job by itself. The best part about it is that you can drive as much or as little as you want, whenever you want.

I also still know several people who continue to drive for them and they are doing ok and it is still fairly lucrative for them.

[Matt Collins]

Uber is taking a much larger cut from the fares than they used to. That is part of it. They have also lowered the rates in most cities too.

[Jamesiv1]

My understanding is Uber and Lyft pay big when they first enter a market because they need drivers. As more and more drivers come on board they lower the driver take-home percentage. Drivers don't like it but it's good business strategy.

[dannno]

My understanding is Uber and Lyft pay big when they first enter a market because they need drivers. As more and more drivers come on board they lower the driver take-home percentage. Drivers don't like it but it's good business strategy.

They needed drivers cause they had a lot of passengers.. people adopted the uber (passenger) app faster than they adopted the uber (driver) app.. because taxis sucked so much ass.

[DamianTV]

Zippy is not going to come along claiming the mainstream media is full of $#@!, that's my job..

Tell me, was it a lie a few years ago when they were claiming that Uber drivers weren't making any money back then?? Now all of a sudden they change their tune.. oh, they were making so much money!! But now they aren't.. even though back then they were claiming they weren't making any money too!! Why do you listen to them at all is my question?

I knew people pulling in $300-$500 on the weekends working like 10-15 hours.. that's about $30/hour and an extra $1200-$2000 per month on top of a full time job if they work every weekend.. but they didn't have to work every weekend because it was so lucrative.

Full time drivers who did the same thing and hit the weekends hard, and then also worked during the week would do pretty well also. Drivers who drove during the wrong times in the wrong areas didn't make much money.

I believe average hourly pay has gone down, the numbers may be exaggerated though.. they said it could be due to drivers working less hours. That doesn't affect the hourly rate.

I have a huge problem with the Uber drivers who protest trying to get full time benefits from Uber and guarenteed pay because that isn't how it works... The fact is we don't need a lot of full time drivers, we need drivers who can work during busy times like the weekends or rush hour, and then have another job to work when it's slower. Driving for Uber is a great second job or primary job, but it's not always a great job by itself. The best part about it is that you can drive as much or as little as you want, whenever you want.

I also still know several people who continue to drive for them and they are doing ok and it is still fairly lucrative for them.

Yes, it is your job. And you've done quite well at it. I only mention Zip because he / they always attempt to spin and distort the truth. You've earned a good reputation because you clarify the truth.

It wasnt a lie about claiming Uber drivers were earning less than minimum wage back when the articles were originally posted. I'll get to this in a sec.

Why do I listen? That is an important question, and relates to the question about how much Uber workers make. The reason I listen, and often post news stories that have obvious bias is so that WE can all point out what information the articles miss. This enables all of us to recognize real news vs propaganda. One of the biggest ways that Biased Media flat out lies is to exclude certain bits of information, which, when revealed, completely alter the perspective of the news article posted. You have, and still do an outstanding job of pointing out what information is missing.

For example, I post a news story that says "Russian runner comes in 2nd Place, US runner comes in Second to Last". When I post the story, I flat out WANT lack of information to be addressed when that lack of information distorts bias and causes confusion. What you would do is to say "info missing" then explain there were only 2 people in the race (first sentence of this paragraph), which means the US runner beat the Russian runner. This clarifies the truth. And you've done and still do an outstanding job of it.

Pointing out that the Uber workers choose to not work too many hours, and how its supplemental income. If it is their only job, it may not be enough for many to live on. The information you present is HONEST and UNBIASED, and why calling out the BS in news articles is highly valuable. Its not just about us, but showing others who read what we write how to see the bias and information exclusion and that enables ALL OF US to find the Truth in a Sea of Lies.

+REP

[oyarde]

Since I retired some of my income comes from a couple rentals , the farm but much of my income comes from irregular methods of a sort of two partial days per week part time job . My income from that has stayed the same but I have noticed this summer a slow down for my employer . i do not live in a city so I have never used uber or lyft but I did use Taxis some when I lived in Europe and they mostly sucked .