Ah. The storied side-hustle. It has long been championed as the great and almighty sword of the fearless millennial. The quintessential, earth-shattering essence of the ’90s babies that are known so fondly as the millennialismo (or something like that at least. Let’s start using that term though). But our little side hustle is all grown up now, or so it is rumored to be by BankRate. According to a new study conducted among 1,000 Americans, aged 18 to 37, more than a half(!!!) are running occasional side hustles and earning a sizable portion of their income outside of their primary job positions.
Half!
Details from BankRate’s study
Roughly 37 percent of all Americans perform some sort of a side hustle to bring in a bit of extra cash every month. This percentage includes the 28 percent that performs their side hustles more than once a month. As for millennials, just as we all might have reasonably guessed, the side hustle is of more than average popularity with them.
The most popular of side hustles is the repair/landscaping side hustle which racks up 12 percent of millennials. A total of 9 percent goes to the babysitting gigs, while 8 percent is taken in by the online selling and reselling of goods. According to BankRate’s survey “other millennial side gigs include substitute teaching or tutoring; doing hair or makeup; earning money by finishing online surveys or completing tasks for people online; or doing freelance photography and videography.”
But … just how much are these millennials earning with their superhero side hustles, you might ask?
Well, here you have that very answer!
- 15 percent of millennials earn more than $1,000 per month
- 20 percent earn between $201 and $1,000 a month
- 21 percent pull in $101 to $200 a month
- 15 percent make between $51 to $100 per month
- 22 percent, the largest amount of millennial respondents, say that they typically earn an extra $50 a month, if not less.
Takeaway
It is an interesting factoid (yep. factoid is a word. So is factotum although it has nothing to do with facts. Tricky, huh?) that, according to BankRate’s survey, a very good portion of the millennial generation that has side hustles — in fact, nearly 70 percent queried — say they treat their side hustle income as merely disposable cash. That’s cash they can throw around for a good time at the local bar or petting zoo (or whatever it is that they do in their free time). On the other hand, “32 percent of the millennial respondents rely on their side gigs to cover necessary living costs like housing and food.” Whether they are throwing the money in the air and igniting it with one of Elon Musk’s flamethrowers as it falls to the earth, or they are using it to buy milk and eggs, it is clear that side hustles are a big part of the United States’ working economy.
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