"Human Rights Watch interviewed 95 platform workers in the US between 2021 and 2023, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington, and New York. Human Rights Watch also conducted a survey in 2023 of 127 platform workers in Texas, which has some of the country’s weakest labor protections.
The nonprobability survey, the first of its kind in the state, is not generalizable to other workers, but provides systematically collected case-level data on subjects that are typically obscure. It found that the median wage among those surveyed was just US$5.12 per hour after deducting work-related expenses and nonwage benefits that form part of employee remuneration. This is nearly 30 percent below the federal minimum wage, which has not kept pace with productivity or inflation since 2009, and roughly 70 percent below the living wage required for single adults with no dependents to meet their rights in the state.
Ninety-five of 127 survey respondents said they struggled to afford housing in the last year, while the majority said they struggled to afford food, groceries, electricity, and water. Forty-four respondents said that they would not be able to cover a $400 emergency expense right now, while another 64 respondents said that they would take on credit card debt or borrow from family or friends to cover the expense."
#USA #GigEconomy #AlgorithmticWageDiscrimination #LaborExploitation #DigitalPlatforms
