President Biden’s American Jobs Plan includes restrictions on non-traditional or “gig” work, such as independent contracting and freelancing. Such a shift would likely hurt women disproportionately, contend AAF’s Director of Labor Market Policy Isabel Soto and Isabella Hindley. In a new analysis, Soto and Hindley examine the participation rate of women as independent contractors, note how the gig economy provides great benefits to women in particular, and consider how restricting gig work could impact the participation of women in the labor force.

They conclude:

Workers have increasingly turned to the gig economy for more flexible work hours, greater autonomy, and higher incomes. Passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act would disproportionately impact women—who because of a heavier caregiving burden than men often have less scheduling flexibility—forcing them into the traditional employment arrangements that do not meet their needs and potentially reducing their workforce participation.

Read the analysis.