Are Freelancers Workers or Small Business Owners?
Posted by: Nick Leiber on August 20 This is a guest post by Richard Greenwald. America doesn’t know what to make of the rise of the freelancer. Today there are about 25 million freelancers in the U.S., according to Department of Labor reports. And a recent survey by market research firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates shows that about 20% of employed Americans work as freelancers or are self-employed. That’s one in five Americans. Hundreds of news organizations have examined this trend. There is a vibrant advice industry offering workshops, Web sites, membership organizations, seminars, and books. This makes sense. If the freelancing community is so big, of course there is media interest and businesses catering to it. Freelancing is a permanent condition of our economy, not a temporary condition caused by the most recent economic crisis. We shouldn’t be confused on this score. Freelancing has been on the rise for decades. Demographers have predicted it for some time. It hit the blue
