Well this concept is certainly nothing new... I wrote about an article I read almost a year ago that bemoaned this practice of moving away from full time employment towards contract work. That original article The Age of the Freelancer written by Gary Stern for Fortune Magazine mainly focused on the individual worker. This week The Diane Rehm show on NPR focused on the effect on the entire economy in a program they called The Freelance Economy. It is worth a listen if you missed it, especially if like me you are stuck working several part time jobs to get by.
The thing I was heartened to hear (because the trend data showing that this is the way the economy is headed can be a bit depressing...) was the various groups that are forming around the country to help support people who are living this new lifestyle (either by choice or due to circumstances out of their control.) The also made an interesting connection to the Affordable Care Act and how it will help improve the lifestyle of workers in this category.
I will be trying to keep track of this trend and continue to blog about it as it develops. As always I would love to hear from anyone with direct experience, especially if you have found unique or different ways to deal with some of the challenges we are facing (health care, saving for retirement, dealing with debt especially student loan debt, etc.)
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