Institute For The Future

Portable Benefits: A Cornerstone of a Workable Future

IN THE MEDIA:

• Washington Post: Tech companies, labor advocates, and think tankers of all stripes call for sweeping reforms to the social safety net
• Wall Street Journal: On-Demand Workers Need ‘Portable Benefits,’ Tech and Labor Leaders Say
• New York Times: Coalition of Start-Ups and Labor Call for Rethinking of Worker Policies
• Marketplace: How to give gig-economy workers stability
• New York Business Journal: Sharing economy startups—sans Uber—write open letter backing freelance workers
• Inc: Meet the Founders Trying to Solve the Sharing Economy's Big Problem
• Politico: Startups, Labor Form Coalition on Worker Issues
• Weekly Standard: The Next Big Thing: 'Gig Economy' Workers' Rights
• Buzzfeed: Companies Sued By Workers Want To Find A Way To Protect Them

During IFTF’s Workable Futures Initiative convening in October, Positive Platforms for a Workable Future, we identified a number of urgent issues that demand our attention and action. One of the challenges highlighted by participants is the very precarious financial life of many independent workers of today, who do not have ready access to benefits and protections. To address this issue, many raised the idea of Portable Benefits—a new model to enable independent workers to access benefits and protections regardless of where or how they earn income.

“The percentage of freelancers is likely to expand to 40% or 50% of the workforce over the next decade in the US. As more people participate in the on-demand economy, sometimes working across multiple platforms, we need to make sure that all workers—whether they are formal employees or earn their living in the on-demand economy—have access to benefits of all kinds. Worker benefits are more than perks and incentives for employees. They’re a critical safety net for both individuals and the economy as a whole,” says Marina Gorbis, IFTF’s Executive Director.

In a letter to policymakers released today, Gorbis, 2015 IFTF Fellow Natalie Foster, and a group of diverse signatories called for discussion and action to advance portable benefits for independent workers. The letter identifies a set of design principles to inform policy development, outlining common ground between platforms and worker advocates, the political left and the political right, funders, thinkers, academics, and others. In fact, several of the signatories were participants at our convening, including:

• Saket Soni, Executive Director, National Guestworker Alliance

• Palak Shah, Social Innovations Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance

• David Rolf, President, SEIU 775

• Care.com

• Michelle Miller, Co-Founder, Coworker.org

This letter—and indeed the creation of the coalition behind it—are an important first step. Many challenging questions remain for platforms, policymakers and social inventors. For example, how will these benefits and protections be designed, administered and accessed in a mobile, global workforce, and what role can positive platforms play in their successful deployment?

If you believe that working people and their families should have access to meaningful work, protections, and benefits in order to lead sustainable lives and realize their dreams then join us today—by reading the letter and sharing it.

We believe our forthcoming Workable Futures Initiative research—an ethnography of the on-demand worker and a labor economics look at on-demand platforms, both to be completed in early 2016—will provide useful insight to support thoughtful response to this question.

More Information

For more information about the IFTF Workable Futures Initiative contact Program Manager, Libby Reder. IFTF looks forward to continuing to be part of the dialogue in pursuit of a workable future for all.