A NATIONAL SNAPSHOT: AMERICA’S INDEPENDENTS

For the 4th consecutive year, the 2014 MBO Partners State of Independence Report
shows that independents represent all ages, professions, educational levels and
geography. They’re actively contributing to virtually every sector of the economy.

It’s likely that many people you know — your neighbors, friends or relatives — are
independents or have worked as an independent in the past. In fact, about 40% of
the US adult workforce consistently reports that they either currently work or have
worked as an independent at one time during their careers.

These independents — 17.9 million of them working primarily as independents and
12.1 million working in side-gigs — cross all lines of geography, generation and
gender with an underlying current of passion, self-reliance and purpose. In the
US, independents live and work in all 50 states. Our 2014 data is consistent with
2013 findings: about 4 in 10 say they live in urban and close-in suburban areas,
30% live in outer suburbs within commuting distance to a major city, and another
30% live in small towns or rural areas.

Age runs the full adult gamut from 21 year olds just stepping into adulthood
to thriving octogenarians, who often still report to work on a full-time basis.
Millennials (aged 21-33) comprise 28% of the independents, Gen X (aged 34-49)
29%, Baby Boomers (aged 50-67) 30% and Matures (Aged 68+) 14%. Consistent
with prior years, men and women are close to equally represented with men
making up 52% of all independents and women 48%.

Together these independents measure up to 30 million strong. As noted before,
prior to 2014, the MBO Partners State of Independence studies solely focused
on independent workers who, on average, work more than 35 hours/week as
independent workers. We focused on these “solopreneurs” to better understand the
backgrounds, behaviors and attitudes of people who actively engage in independent
work, spend a substantial amount of time as independent workers and derive a
significant amount of income from independent work.

This year we chose to expand the census of independent workers to also include
independents regularly working part-time “side-gigs” alongside their traditional
jobs, retirement and/or family care activities on a recurring basis. We added
these “Side-Giggers” to better understand the role they play in the economy and
their likelihood of becoming more committed to independent work in the future.
In the section below, we will highlight and intersperse key findings for both the
“solopreneurs” and the “Side-Giggers”, drawing on a wider data set as compared to
prior year reports.

Source: http://info.mbopartners.com/rs/mbo/images/2014-MBO_Partners_State_of_Independence_Report.pdf