4 ms·

But possibly not easy for an Uber driver, rather than a highly skilled tech worker.

Consultant32452 9y ago
The national average income for Uber drivers is about $20/hr. That's plenty to live off of. The average in Detroit is only $9/hr. That's a tough place to be, but not unique to consulting or gig jobs.
- rectang 9y ago
  Are you factoring business expenses into that $20/hr, or are you confusing raw revenue with income, and failing to take into account all the risk that Uber offloads onto its contractors? If you're confused, then you have a lot in common with many Uber drivers!
  - Consultant32452 9y ago
    Yes, that national average of $20/hr is after expenses. That language, offloads, is loaded. This idea that it's someone else's responsibility to handle even the most trivial of life's decisions for us is toxic. If you don't understand the basic concepts around running a small business, there's plenty of books on the subject in the library.
    - rectang 9y ago
      > Yes, that national average of $20/hr is after expenses. Where on earth is that number coming from? Uber? https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/internal-uber-driver-pay-numbers https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/internal-uber-driv... "In early 2015, a study commissioned by Uber found that drivers in 20 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston, were grossing around $17 an hour.... But the $17-an-hour figure was based on data from 2014, when Uber rates in most cities were higher than they were in late 2015. It was also based on gross earnings and did not account for driver expenses."
      - Consultant32452 9y ago
        https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/27/how-much-uber-drivers-actually-make-per-hour/?utm_term=.58ee266c5a08 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/27... This is from an article complaining about how little Uber drivers make... >But in three large metropolitan cities, drivers make far less than the national average, about $20 per hour, after expenses.
        rectang 9y ago
        That Washington Post article is garbage. It cites as the source of its numbers, the Buzzfeed article I quoted. But the only place the number "$20" appears in the Buzzfeed article is this: "None of these advertisements mention driver expenses. The same goes for the alerts Uber sends to drivers — sometimes five times a day or more — telling them that other drivers on the road were making $20 or $30 an hour in gross fares."
        Consultant32452 9y ago
        Okay, so the first google result I found had an inflated number. I don't really get what point you're trying to get to. If you think I'm arguing Uber is a good/lucrative place to work, I'm not.
        TheCoelacanth 9y ago
        You do seem to be arguing that Uber drivers should have sufficient money to do a variety of things based on completely erroneous information about how much money they have.
        Consultant32452 9y ago
        Let's put some context on this. Disability insurance is $30/mo. And that amount is generally tax deductible for the self employed. Yes, if you're poor it will be harder to buy health insurance, but you can avoid consumer debt at virtually any income. You can save up an emergency fund at virtually any income level. The fact that it might get more difficult to do any of these things as you get closer and closer to the lowest end of the poverty spectrum... is that really the argument we're trying to have? Because that seems like a silly thing to interject in a conversation about people who are going to be starting and running small businesses.

The national average income for Uber drivers is about $20/hr. That's plenty to live off of. The average in Detroit is only $9/hr. That's a tough place to be, but not unique to consulting or gig jobs.

rectang 9y ago
Are you factoring business expenses into that $20/hr, or are you confusing raw revenue with income, and failing to take into account all the risk that Uber offloads onto its contractors? If you're confused, then you have a lot in common with many Uber drivers!
- Consultant32452 9y ago
  Yes, that national average of $20/hr is after expenses. That language, offloads, is loaded. This idea that it's someone else's responsibility to handle even the most trivial of life's decisions for us is toxic. If you don't understand the basic concepts around running a small business, there's plenty of books on the subject in the library.
  - rectang 9y ago
    > Yes, that national average of $20/hr is after expenses. Where on earth is that number coming from? Uber? https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/internal-uber-driver-pay-numbers https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/internal-uber-driv... "In early 2015, a study commissioned by Uber found that drivers in 20 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston, were grossing around $17 an hour.... But the $17-an-hour figure was based on data from 2014, when Uber rates in most cities were higher than they were in late 2015. It was also based on gross earnings and did not account for driver expenses."
    - Consultant32452 9y ago
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/27/how-much-uber-drivers-actually-make-per-hour/?utm_term=.58ee266c5a08 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/27... This is from an article complaining about how little Uber drivers make... >But in three large metropolitan cities, drivers make far less than the national average, about $20 per hour, after expenses.
      - rectang 9y ago
        That Washington Post article is garbage. It cites as the source of its numbers, the Buzzfeed article I quoted. But the only place the number "$20" appears in the Buzzfeed article is this: "None of these advertisements mention driver expenses. The same goes for the alerts Uber sends to drivers — sometimes five times a day or more — telling them that other drivers on the road were making $20 or $30 an hour in gross fares."
        Consultant32452 9y ago
        Okay, so the first google result I found had an inflated number. I don't really get what point you're trying to get to. If you think I'm arguing Uber is a good/lucrative place to work, I'm not.
        TheCoelacanth 9y ago
        You do seem to be arguing that Uber drivers should have sufficient money to do a variety of things based on completely erroneous information about how much money they have.
        Consultant32452 9y ago
        Let's put some context on this. Disability insurance is $30/mo. And that amount is generally tax deductible for the self employed. Yes, if you're poor it will be harder to buy health insurance, but you can avoid consumer debt at virtually any income. You can save up an emergency fund at virtually any income level. The fact that it might get more difficult to do any of these things as you get closer and closer to the lowest end of the poverty spectrum... is that really the argument we're trying to have? Because that seems like a silly thing to interject in a conversation about people who are going to be starting and running small businesses.