Many Australians, especially women, have been working two jobs since the GFC. Inflation is part of the problem as are flat wages but the real issue is under-employment, massive inefficiencies in the economy and a tax system that is a relic of the past.
The higher cost of living and growth of part time and contract work is fuelling a rise in people taking on second jobs or ‘side hustles’, according to experts.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently released data showing the number of people working more than one job is on the rise, now totalling 986,400 people, which is 6.6 per cent of employed people in the country.
The main reason people are picking up an extra job is cost of living pressures from inflation, according to Professor Angela Knox from Sydney University’s Business School.
“Wage growth has not been matching the rate of inflation growth,” she told the ABC.
The other factor behind the growth in people holding multiple jobs is underemployment — where people are working fewer hours than they would like.
Ms Knox said that meant people were often “cobbling together other jobs to try and build up their hours” to full-time work.
“So they’re picking up extra work on the side to be able to bolster their regular income, to be able to meet their regular commitments.”
“I’m constantly sort of chasing my tail with the bills,” painter Frank Hoyt told the ABC.
“It’s hard. It’s not just rent and everything else that’s gone up but the cost of materials and stuff like that for work.”
Mr Hoyt runs a business repairing hail-damaged cars but, with jobs depending on the weather, the high cost of living has forced him to pick up a second job painting houses.
The painting gig was in previous years more about bringing in pocket money for his hobbies — “I collect Marvel toys”, he explains — but now the cash is going straight towards household bills.
Though inflation has seen even that work slow down in recent months as his customers count their pennies too.
“It’s hard to even get jobs. Because when you give someone a quote they start to take a step back and have to think about what they have to spend money on,” he said.
More women have second jobs than men
The ABS data reveals more women than men are taking on side gigs, with 7.7 per cent of employed women being multiple job-holders, compared to 5.8 per cent of employed men.
Younger workers, aged 20-24, were also most likely to be working multiple jobs (8.7 per cent).
“It’s probably because women are more likely to be working on a part-time basis and often a temporary basis as well and they’re arranging their work hours around their family commitments,” Ms Knox explained.
“All of my bills have increased in the last year including my rent, car insurance, internet. Increasing my income is one way I can help negate the increase in my budget,” 34-year-old Nataasha Torzsa explains.
Thirty-four-year-old Nataasha Torzsa, a solo mum who works full-time for the Queensland government, has several side hustles to help make ends meet and provide for her four-year-old child.
“All of my bills have increased in the last year, including my rent, car insurance, internet,” she said.
“Increasing my income is one way I can help negate the increase in my budget.
“As a single parent working full time and with a child in daycare, there’s only one income in the household so all of these increases fall on me alone and can make my budget really stretched if I don’t try and increase my income somehow.”