The share of workers who are self-employed rises markedly with age. Given policy concerns about inadequate retirement savings, especially among those with lower education, and the resulting interest in encouraging employment at older ages, it is important to understand the role that self-employment arrangements play in facilitating work among seniors. New data from a survey module fielded on a Gallup telephone survey distinguish independent contractor work from other self-employment and provide information on informal and online platform work. The Gallup data show that, especially after accounting for individuals who are miscoded as employees, self-employment is even more prevalent at older ages than suggested by existing data. Work as an independent contractor is the most common type of self-employment. Roughly one-quarter of independent contractors aged 50 and older work for a former employer. At older ages, self-employment generally – and work as an independent contractor specifically – is more common among the highly educated, accounting for much of the difference in employment rates across education groups. We provide suggestive evidence that differences in opportunities for independent contractor work play an important role in the lower employment rates of less-educated older adults.

自雇工人的比例随着年龄的增长而显着增加。鉴于对退休储蓄不足的政策担忧，尤其是受教育程度较低的人，以及由此产生的鼓励老年人就业的兴趣，了解自雇安排在促进老年人工作方面的作用非常重要。来自盖洛普电话调查的调查模块的新数据将独立承包商的工作与其他自雇工作区分开来，并提供有关非正式和在线平台工作的信息。盖洛普的数据显示，尤其是在考虑到被错误编码为雇员的个人之后，自雇在年龄较大时比现有数据显示的更为普遍。作为独立承包商的工作是最常见的自雇类型。大约四分之一的 50 岁及以上的独立承包商为前雇主工作。在年龄较大的人群中，自雇——尤其是作为独立承包商工作——在受过高等教育的人群中更为常见，这是造成不同教育群体就业率差异的主要原因。我们提供了暗示性证据，表明独立承包商工作机会的差异在受教育程度较低的老年人就业率较低方面发挥着重要作用。