A side job, also informally called a side hustle or side gig, is an extra job that a person takes in addition to their primary job in order to supplement their

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. F ...

. Side jobs may be done out of necessity when a person's main job does not provide sufficient income to support them, or simply out of a desire to earn more money or to try something interesting. Working a side job is also referred to as moonlighting, usually when it is performed after regular business hours. A side job can be a full-time job, part-time contract, or

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

work, and a person can hold more than one side job. A "day job" is defined as work a person does "to earn money so that heycan do something else that heyprefer but that does not pay

hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

much money." Side jobs are typically tasks that can be completed on a part-time or freelance basis at the same time as having a day job. Examples include

copywriting Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called Copy (publishing), copy or sales copy, is written content t ...

, ecommerce (such as selling products on

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

affiliate marketing Affiliate marketing is a marketing arrangement in which Affiliate (commerce), affiliates receive a wiktionary:commission, commission for each visit, signup or sale they generate for a merchant. This arrangement allows businesses to Outsourcing, ...

, providing social media marketing services, freelance

web design Web design encompasses many different skills and disciplines in the production and maintenance of websites. The different areas of web design include web graphic design; user interface design (UI design); authoring, including standardised code a ...

, foreign language lessons or translations, tutoring or coaching,

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

, freelance writing, and

business management Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

. Side jobs have become more prevalent in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

because of wage stagnation and low wage growth that have not kept up with the rising

cost of living The cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living for an individual or a household. Changes in the cost of living over time can be measured in a cost-of-living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare t ...

. Working a side job imposes a burden since it lengthens one's working hours. In 2023, nearly 39% of all Americans reported having a side job, with 57% of New Yorkers needing one to make ends meet. A third of U.S. adults say they require a side job to pay for basic household expenses. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, 60% of students and graduates reported having a side job in 2019, and 43% required it to pay

renting Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the use of a good, service or property owned by another over a fixed period of time. To maintain such an agreement, a rental agreement (or lease) is sig ...

expenses. The most common reason workers take on side jobs is to obtain additional disposable income. The side job can also be a means to pay off

student loan A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in the fact that the interest ...

s, or to leverage one's creativity in ways normally not available in the traditional workplace.

Millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s a ...

were the most likely to have a side job, often to provide a financial "safety net", leading them to be labeled the "side hustle generation". However, Gen Z has surpassed Millennials as the generation with the highest rate of working side jobs.

References

External links

Side Hustle Nation website
{{Authority control Occupations Employment classifications

See also

References

External links