Monthly Labor Review March 2001 3

 Contingent Work

Contingent work

in the late-1990s

Despite the strong labor market, the incidence

of contingent work changed little between 1997 and 1999;

characteristics of contingent workers

are similar to those of earlier surveys

Steven Hipple

Steven Hipple is an

economist in the

Division of Labor Force

Statistics, Bureau of

Labor Statistics.

I

n February 1999, 5.6 million workers held

contingent jobs, that is, jobs that are structured to be short term or temporary. The

contingency rate—the proportion of total employment composed of contingent workers—was

4.3 percent.1 Both the number of contingent

workers and the contingency rate were virtually

the same as those in the 1997 survey. The fact

that both the number of individuals with contingent jobs and the contingency rate were little

different is interesting, because the period covered by the two surveys was one of strong labor

market conditions. For example, total employment

grew by 4.8 million over the two periods, and the

unemployment rate—at 5.3 percent in February

1997—had fallen to 4.4 percent in February 1999.2

(See chart 1.)

This article discusses the results of the

February 1999 Contingent and Alternative Work

Arrangements Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), including an examination of

the characteristics of contingent workers and the

jobs they hold, and their earnings and employee

benefits.3 Information on contingent work was

first collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics

in February 1995, and when the results of that

survey were published, three alternative measures of contingent work were introduced.4 (See

the appendix.) The analysis in this article focuses on the broadest measure of contingent

work—estimate 3. Noncontingent workers, employed individuals who do not fall under any of

the estimates of contingent work, are used as a

point of comparison.

Prior analyses have shown that the characteristics of workers in contingent and noncontingent

employment arrangements differ substantially.

The incidence of contingent work is higher

among certain demographic groups, for instance,

and in certain industries and occupations. Moreover, the groups differ by other characteristics

including employee tenure and work schedules.

Disentangling the impact of these differences on

earnings or employee benefits, for example, can

be very complicated. Using descriptive statistics, this article provides an overview of contingent workers in 1999.

Why are contingent jobs temporary?

The phrase “contingent work” was first proposed by Audrey Freedman in 1985 to refer

specifically to “conditional and transitory employment arrangements as initiated by a need

for labor—usually because a company has an

increased demand for a particular service or a

product or technology, at a particular place, at

a specific time.”5 The term, however, took on a
4 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

Chart 1. Unemployment rates and contingency rates, February 1994–2000

Percent Percent

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7





















































































Contingency rate Unemployment rate



1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

negative connotation, implying less job security, and soon

became used to describe a wide variety of employment arrangements including part-time work, self-employment, temporary help agency employment, contracting out, employee

leasing, and employment in the business services industry.

In fact, to some analysts, any work arrangement that differed

from the commonly perceived norm of a permanent, full-time

wage and salary job would be considered “contingent.” For

many people, nonstandard or contingent work has come to

represent a just-in-time work force, the human equivalent of

just-in-time inventories. Although studying “nonstandard”

arrangements is of interest to a number of analysts, combining

these very diverse arrangements into a single category and

labeling them contingent may cause workers to be classified

incorrectly and may cause confusion among analysts studying this topic.6

In order to turn the focus on the attachment between the

worker and the employer and to identify a common underlying trait that could be used to classify workers, the Bureau of

Labor Statistics proposed the following definition of contingent work in 1989: “Any job in which an individual does not

have an explicit or implicit contract for long-term employment.”7 Essentially, contingent workers are individuals who

hold jobs that are temporary or not expected to continue.

In the survey, the key factor used to determine if a job fits

the conceptual definition of a contingent work arrangement

is whether the job was temporary or not expected to last.

(For a detailed explanation of the criteria used to determine if

a job is contingent, see the appendix.) Jobs are considered to

be temporary if a person is working only until the completion of a specific project, temporarily replacing another

worker, being hired for a fixed time period, filling a seasonal job, or if business conditions dictated that the job

was temporary. Workers who are temporarily holding jobs

for personal reasons are excluded from the count of contingent workers.

In 1999, the majority of contingent workers—53 percent—reported that their jobs were temporary because they

were working only until a specific project was completed.8

Another 18 percent said that they were hired for a fixed time

period, 9 percent were hired to temporarily replace another

worker, 8 percent were holding a seasonal job, and 12 percent gave another economic-related reason. These proportions were similar to those measured in the 1995 and 1997

surveys.

A study conducted by Susan N. Houseman used data

from a nationwide survey of employers on their use of flexible staffing arrangements. The author found that the most

common reasons that employers use temporary workers were

to fill seasonal needs, to help with special projects, to help

during unexpected increases in business, to fill in for an absent employee, and to fill in until a regular worker is hired.9

Text continues on page 8.
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 5

1995 1997 1999 1995 1997 1999 1995 1997 1999 1995 1997 1999

 Age and sex

 Total, 16 years

and older (thousands) ..... 2,739 2,385 2,444 3,422 3,096 3,038 6,034 5,574 5,641 117,174 121,168 125,853

 Percent ............................ 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

16 to 19 years ...................... 16.6 19.2 20.9 15.2 16.0 17.8 10.7 12.4 13.2 4.3 4.4 4.7

20 to 24 years ...................... 25.0 23.9 23.5 22.2 21.0 22.1 19.8 17.9 19.8 9.6 9.0 9.0

25 to 34 years ...................... 26.0 23.7 23.1 27.5 24.4 24.7 26.3 24.8 24.4 26.1 25.0 23.5

35 to 44 years ...................... 18.5 17.5 15.6 19.8 20.6 17.5 21.0 20.9 18.8 28.0 28.2 28.1

45 to 54 years ...................... 8.2 8.3 11.0 9.5 10.8 11.8 12.6 13.6 13.2 19.8 21.0 21.8

55 to 64 years ...................... 3.8 5.3 3.9 3.7 5.4 3.9 5.9 7.3 6.4 9.4 9.6 10.1

65 years and older ................ 1.8 2.1 1.9 2.1 1.9 2.1 3.7 3.1 4.1 2.8 2.9 2.8

Men ..................................... 49.3 49.5 46.9 49.4 48.4 46.6 49.6 49.3 48.7 54.0 53.8 53.5

Women ................................ 50.7 50.5 53.1 50.6 51.6 53.4 50.4 50.7 51.3 46.0 46.2 46.5

Race and Hispanic origin

White 80.0 79.5 80.9 80.1 80.6 80.5 80.9 81.9 80.2 85.6 85.3 84.5

Black 13.9 13.3 11.8 13.6 13.0 12.7 13.3 11.1 12.2 10.5 10.6 11.1

Hispanic origin ...................... 13.6 12.2 13.8 12.9 12.8 13.6 11.3 12.4 13.2 8.3 9.4 10.0

 Country of birth

 and U.S. citizenship status

U.S. born .............................. 87.5 87.6 85.2 87.3 87.1 85.3 86.8 85.3 84.0 91.0 89.4 89.0

Foreign born .......................... 12.5 12.4 14.8 12.7 13.0 14.7 13.2 14.7 16.0 9.0 10.6 11.0

U.S. citizen .......................... 1.6 3.2 3.0 1.7 3.7 3.1 2.2 3.9 3.9 3.2 4.2 4.4

Not a U.S. citizen ................ 10.9 9.1 11.8 11.0 9.2 11.7 11.0 10.7 12.1 5.8 6.4 6.6

 Full- or part-time status

Full-time workers ................... 52.9 53.5 48.4 53.6 54.8 52.0 57.1 57.5 55.9 81.8 82.2 83.0

Part-time workers .................. 47.1 46.6 51.6 46.4 45.2 48.0 42.9 42.5 44.1 18.2 17.8 17.0

 School enrollment

 Total, 16 to 24 years

(thousands) .................... 1,142 1,029 1,086 1,279 1,143 1,212 1,841 1,690 1,863 16,215 16,299 17,261

 Percent ............................ 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Enrolled ................................ 55.3 61.4 63.8 53.7 57.7 62.1 58.1 63.7 65.9 38.4 40.0 41.4

Not enrolled .......................... 44.7 38.6 36.2 46.3 42.3 37.9 41.9 36.3 34.1 61.6 60.0 58.6

 Educational attainment

 Total, 25 to 64 years

(thousands) .................... 1,547 1,308 1,311 2,070 1,893 1,762 3,968 3,710 3,546 97,633 101,397 105,043

 Percent ............................ 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Less than a high school

 diploma ............................. 14.0 10.0 12.7 13.6 11.0 12.6 12.0 10.4 11.9 9.6 9.6 9.1

High school graduates,

no college ......................... 27.9 27.9 27.8 27.5 28.5 28.5 27.3 26.8 25.8 32.4 32.8 31.4

Some college, no degree ....... 22.8 21.9 19.1 23.3 20.2 18.5 19.6 18.8 17.0 19.9 18.9 19.3

Associate degree .................. 8.4 10.7 7.7 8.0 10.1 8.0 7.9 8.2 6.9 9.1 9.1 9.2

College graduates ................. 27.0 29.4 32.6 27.7 30.1 32.4 33.2 35.8 38.5 28.9 29.5 31.0

Advanced degree ................ 9.4 10.5 11.6 10.0 9.3 11.4 14.9 14.7 16.0 9.9 10.0 10.3

Noncontingent

workers2

1 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers

for ongoing employment. Estimate 1 is calculated using the narrowest

definition of contingent work; estimate 3 uses the broadest definition. For

the specific criteria used for each definition, see the appendix, p. 25.

2 Noncontingent workers are those who do not meet the criteria for any

of the three definitions of contingent work.

NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not

sum to totals because data for the “other races” group are not presented

and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population

groups. Detail for other characteristics may not sum to totals due to

rounding.

Contingent workers1

 Characteristic

[Percent distribution]

Estimate 1 Estimate 2 Estimate 3

Table 1. Contingent and noncontingent workers by selected characteristics, February 1995–99
6 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

1995 1997 1999 1995 1997 1999 1995 1997 1999

 Age and sex

 Total, 16 years and older ................... 2.2 1.9 1.9 2.8 2.4 2.3 4.9 4.4 4.3

16 to 19 years ........................................ 8.1 7.6 7.7 9.2 8.2 8.1 11.4 11.5 11.2

20 to 24 years ........................................ 5.5 4.8 4.6 6.1 5.4 5.4 9.6 8.4 9.0

25 to 34 years ........................................ 2.2 1.8 1.8 2.9 2.4 2.4 4.9 4.4 4.5

35 to 44 years ........................................ 1.5 1.2 1.0 2.0 1.8 1.5 3.7 3.3 2.9

45 to 54 years ........................................ .9 .8 1.0 1.4 1.3 1.3 3.2 2.9 2.6

55 to 64 years ........................................ .9 1.1 .7 1.1 1.4 .9 3.1 3.4 2.8

65 years and older ................................. 1.4 1.3 1.2 2.1 1.6 1.7 6.3 4.8 6.1

Men ........................................................ 2.0 1.7 1.6 2.5 2.2 2.0 4.5 4.0 3.9

Women ................................................... 2.4 2.0 2.1 3.0 2.7 2.6 5.3 4.8 4.7

 Race and Hispanic origin

White ...................................................... 2.1 1.8 1.8 2.6 2.3 2.2 4.6 4.2 4.1

Black ...................................................... 2.9 2.4 2.0 3.5 3.0 2.6 6.1 4.6 4.7

Hispanic origin ........................................ 3.6 2.4 2.5 4.2 3.3 3.1 6.5 5.7 5.6

 Country of birth

 and U.S. citizenship status

U.S. born ................................................ 2.1 1.8 1.8 2.7 2.4 2.2 4.7 4.2 4.1

Foreign born ........................................... 3.0 2.2 2.5 3.8 2.9 3.0 7.0 6.0 6.1

 U.S. citizen ........................................... 1.1 1.4 1.3 1.5 2.2 1.6 3.5 4.1 3.8

 Not a U.S. citizen ................................. 4.0 2.6 3.2 5.0 3.4 3.9 8.9 7.2 7.6

 Full- or part-time status

Full-time workers .................................... 1.5 1.2 1.1 1.8 1.7 1.5 3.5 3.1 2.9

Part-time workers ................................... 5.4 4.6 5.3 6.6 5.8 6.1 10.8 9.9 10.4

 School enrollment

 Total, 16 to 24 years ...................... 6.3 5.7 5.7 7.1 6.4 6.3 10.2 9.4 9.7

Enrolled .................................................. 8.7 8.3 8.3 9.4 8.7 9.0 14.7 14.2 14.7

Not enrolled ............................................ 4.7 3.8 3.7 5.5 4.7 4.3 7.2 5.9 5.9

 Educational attainment

Total, 25 to 64 years ....................... 1.5 1.2 1.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 3.9 3.5 3.3

Less than a high school diploma ............ 2.2 1.3 1.7 2.9 2.1 2.2 4.8 3.8 4.2

High school graduates, no college ......... 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.7 1.6 1.5 3.3 2.9 2.7

Some college, no degree ........................ 1.7 1.4 1.2 2.4 1.9 1.6 3.8 3.5 2.9

Associate degree ................................... 1.4 1.5 1.0 1.8 2.0 1.4 3.4 3.2 2.4

College graduates ................................... 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.9 1.8 1.7 4.5 4.3 4.0

 Advanced degree ................................. 1.4 1.3 1.3 2.0 1.6 1.8 5.8 5.1 5.0

Estimate 1 Estimate 2 Estimate 3

Table 2. Contingency rates by selected characteristics, February 1995–99

Contingency rates1

Characteristic

1 Contingency rates are calculated by dividing the number of contingent workers in a specified worker group by total employment for the same worker

group. Estimate 1 above is calculated using the narrowest definition of contingent work; estimate 3 uses the broadest definition. For the specific criteria used

for each definition, see the appendix, p. 25.

[In percent]
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 7

 Occupation and industry

 Occupation

 Total, 16 years and older ............................. 2.2 1.9 1.9 2.8 2.4 2.3 4.9 4.4 4.3

Managerial and professional specialty ............. 1.7 1.4 1.5 2.1 1.7 1.8 4.8 4.2 4.4

 Executive, administrative, and managerial ..... .8 .7 .5 1.1 1.0 .8 2.7 2.2 2.0

 Professional specialty .................................... 2.6 2.0 2.4 3.1 2.4 2.7 6.8 6.0 6.7

Technical, sales, and administrative support ... 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.5 2.6 2.6 4.4 4.3 4.3

 Technicians and related support .................... 1.3 1.8 2.0 1.9 2.7 2.5 4.2 4.7 4.4

 Sales occupations ......................................... 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.6 1.5 1.7 2.6 2.1 2.4

 Administrative support, including clerical ....... 3.1 3.0 2.9 3.4 3.5 3.3 5.8 6.0 5.8

Service occupations ......................................... 3.0 2.3 2.3 4.1 3.2 3.1 5.8 5.0 4.7

Precision, production, craft, and repair ............ 2.3 1.8 1.4 2.9 2.3 1.8 4.6 4.1 3.3

Operators, fabricators, and laborers ................ 2.7 2.2 2.0 3.1 3.0 2.4 5.4 4.4 4.0

Farming, forestry, and fishing ........................... 2.2 2.0 2.9 3.2 3.0 3.3 5.6 5.9 7.3

 Industry

 Total, 16 years and older ............................. 2.2 1.9 1.9 2.8 2.4 2.3 4.9 4.4 4.3

Agriculture ........................................................ 2.4 1.6 2.6 3.3 2.6 3.2 5.0 5.2 6.1

Mining ............................................................... 1.0 1.1 .7 1.0 1.8 .7 2.6 4.0 2.6

Construction ..................................................... 4.5 3.7 2.3 5.7 4.7 2.9 8.4 7.2 5.2

Manufacturing ................................................... 1.3 .8 .8 1.6 1.1 1.0 3.1 2.1 2.2

 Durable goods ................................................ 1.3 .7 .9 1.6 1.0 1.1 3.4 2.0 2.4

Nondurable goods ........................................... 1.3 1.0 .6 1.5 1.1 .9 2.8 2.3 2.0

Transportation ................................................... 1.1 .7 .6 1.1 1.4 1.0 2.3 2.7 1.7

Communications and public utilities .................. 1.4 .6 1.6 1.6 1.0 1.6 4.0 2.3 2.7

Wholesale trade ................................................ .7 .8 1.1 1.0 1.3 1.5 2.3 2.1 2.8

Retail trade ....................................................... 1.6 1.5 1.6 2.0 1.7 1.8 3.0 2.6 2.7

Finance, insurance, and real estate ................. .7 1.1 .6 .8 1.3 1.0 2.0 2.1 1.9

Services ........................................................... 3.4 2.8 2.9 4.3 3.7 3.6 7.5 6.7 6.9

 Private household .......................................... 8.2 6.1 8.8 11.9 9.8 11.8 17.9 15.7 16.8

 Business, auto, and repair services .............. 5.3 3.8 3.2 7.3 5.8 4.7 9.6 8.0 7.5

 Personal services .......................................... 3.6 2.5 3.6 3.9 3.3 4.3 5.6 5.7 6.2

 Entertainment and recreation services .......... 4.3 3.6 3.9 5.3 4.0 4.3 8.2 6.8 5.7

 Professional services .................................... 2.7 2.4 2.6 3.3 3.0 3.1 6.7 6.3 6.6

 Hospitals ...................................................... .8 1.1 1.0 .8 1.2 1.0 2.2 3.8 3.7

 Health services, excluding hospitals ........... 1.2 1.0 .7 1.5 1.3 .9 2.7 2.4 1.7

 Educational services ................................... 5.3 4.6 5.0 5.5 4.8 5.1 12.3 11.4 11.6

 Social services ............................................ 2.3 1.6 2.1 5.6 4.5 5.2 7.8 6.2 7.3

 Other professional services ......................... 1.1 1.7 1.5 2.1 2.4 2.0 4.2 3.6 4.1

Public administration ........................................ 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.4 3.6 4.2 3.1

1 Contingency rates are calculated by dividing the number of contingent workers in a specified worker group by total employment for the same worker

group. Estimate 1 above is calculated using the narrowest definition of contingent work; estimate 3 uses the broadest definition. For the specific criteria

used for each definition, see the appendix, p. 25.

[In percent]

Table 3. Contingency rates by occupation and industry, February 1995–99

Contingency rates1

Estimate 1 Estimate 2 Estimate 3

1995 1997 1999 1995 1997 1999 1995 1997 1999
8 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

Noncontingent

workers2

1 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers for

ongoing employment. Estimate 1 above is calculated using the narrowest

definition of contingent work; estimate 3 uses the broadest definition. For

the specific criteria used for each definition, see the appendix, p. 25.

2 Noncontingent workers are those who do not meet the criteria for any

of the three definitions of contingent work.

3 Part-time is defined as 1 to 34 hours per week; full time is 35 hours or

more. The classification of full- or part-time is based on the number of hours

usually worked. The sum of the at-work part time categories would not equal

the estimate for part-time workers as the latter includes those who had a job

but were not at work in the reference week. Persons who are at work part

time for an economic or noneconomic reason are limited to those who

usually work part time.

4 A small number of individuals who worked full time on both their primary

and secondary jobs or worked part time on their primary jobs and full time on

their secondary jobs are not shown separately.

5 Multiple jobholding rates are calculated by dividing the number of multiple jobholders in a specified worker group by total employment for the same

worker group.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Demographics

Both the number of contingent workers and the contingency

rate were about unchanged between 1997 and 1999 for most

of the major demographic groups. (See tables 1 and 2, pp. 5–

6.) As in prior surveys, the contingency rate was highest for

younger workers. In 1999, roughly 10 percent of both teenagers (aged 16 to 19 years) and 20- to 24-year-olds held contingent jobs.

Among workers aged 16 to 24, the likelihood of holding a

contingent job was much greater for those enrolled in school;

the contingency rate for students was 2.5 times higher than

that for their counterparts not enrolled in school. The greater

tendency of students to hold contingent jobs suggests that

flexibility and lack of a long-term commitment to an employer

is compatible with attending school. In fact, among those

enrolled in college, a large proportion work in colleges and

universities, that is, on their campuses. Many of these jobs,

by nature, are designed to be temporary. For example, of

the 715,000 college students employed at their schools in

1999, about three-fifths reported that they were holding

contingent jobs.

Although the contingency rates for men and women

changed little between 1997 and 1999, women continued to

be more likely than men to hold contingent jobs. Working

women are more likely than their male counterparts to be

employed in industries—services, for example—that have a

large proportion of contingent workers Moreover, compared

to men, a much higher proportion of women are employed

part time, and part-time workers have a higher probability of

being contingent than full-time workers.

Blacks and Hispanics continued to be somewhat more

likely than whites to hold temporary jobs. In 1999, contingency rates for blacks and Hispanics were 4.7 percent and 5.6

percent, respectively, while the rate for whites was 4.1 percent.

As was the case in 1995 and 1997, contingent workers

were found at both ends of the educational spectrum. Among

Characteristic

 Contingent workers1

Estimate 1 Estimate 2 Estimate 3

Table 4. Contingent and noncontingent workers by full- and part-time status, reason for part-time work,

 usual hours at work on primary job, and multiple job holding, February 1999

 Full- or part-time status3

 Total employed, 16 years and older (thousands) ........................... 2,444 3,038 5,641 125,853

 Percent ...................................................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

 Full-time workers ...................................................................... 48.4 52.0 55.9 83.0

 Part-time workers ..................................................................... 51.6 48.0 44.1 17.0

 At work part time for economic reasons ............................... 9.1 9.0 7.2 2.5

 At work part time for noneconomic reasons ......................... 40.3 37.7 35.8 14.0

 Hours of work

Average hours, total at work ................................................................ 27.3 28.4 30.0 38.8

Average hours, usually work full time ................................................... 38.7 39.3 40.8 42.7

Average hours, usually work part time ................................................. 16.8 16.8 16.9 20.6

 Multiple jobholding

 Total, 16 years and older (thousands) .............................................. 143 196 457 8,109

 Percent4 ......................................................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

 Primary job full time, secondary job part time ............................ 28.0 34.7 36.8 55.3

 Primary and secondary job both part time ................................. 51.7 46.4 40.9 21.3

 Hours vary on primary or secondary jobs .................................. 20.3 18.9 20.1 19.1

 Proportion of full-time workers who combined part-time jobs ......... 6.3 5.8 5.9 1.7

Multiple jobholding rate5 ........................................................................ 5.9 6.5 8.1 6.4
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 9

25- to 64-year-olds, workers with advanced degrees and those

with less than a high school diploma had relatively high contingency rates—5.0 and 4.2 percent, respectively. (The overall contingency rate for workers aged 25 to 64 was 3.3 percent.) The probability of holding a contingent job was lower

for workers with an associate degree, high school graduates

with no college, and workers with some college but no degree. (See table 2, p. 6.)

Workers who were natives of the United States were much

less likely than the foreign-born to hold contingent jobs. The

contingency rate for U.S. natives was 4.1 percent, in contrast

to 6.1 percent for the foreign-born.10 The above-average rate

among the foreign-born is due entirely to the high rate of

contingency among noncitizens; the rate for this group—7.6

percent—was twice as high as that for naturalized citizens—

3.8 percent. (See table 2, p. 6.) Employment among noncitizens tends to be concentrated in many of the industries and

occupations in which contingent employment arrangements

are most common. For example, compared with U.S. natives

and naturalized citizens, noncitizens were twice as likely to

work in agriculture and 5 times as likely to work in private

household services, two industries that have above-average

contingency rates. But, even within agriculture, the rate for

noncitizens is much higher than that for U.S. natives and

naturalized citizens. The contingency rate in agriculture for

noncitizens was 24.5 percent, in contrast to 3.2 percent for

U.S. natives and only 1.2 percent for naturalized citizens. The

high rate for noncitizens in this industry is largely due to

their concentration in farm laborer occupations, which have

very high contingency rates. Conversely, the low rate of contingency among U.S. natives working in agriculture is due, in

part, to the fact that a large proportion (more than two-fifths)

of these workers were employed as farm operators and managers, occupations that have extremely low rates of contingency—less than 1 percent.

Industry and occupation

Industry. As in 1997, the probability of holding a contingent

job was highest for workers in the agriculture, construction,

and services industries. Between 1997 and 1999, the contingency rate for construction declined, while the rates for agriculture and services were little different.11 (See table 3, p. 7.)

Within services, specific industries that had relatively high

contingency rates in 1999 included private household services (16.8 percent); educational services (11.6 percent);

business, auto, and repair services (7.5 percent); social services (7.3 percent); and personal services (6.2 percent).

Major industry groups that had very low contingency

rates—less than 3 percent—included transportation; communications and public utilities; finance, insurance, and real

estate; manufacturing; and mining.

1 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers

for ongoing employment. For the specific criteria used, see the appendix,

p. 25.

2 Noncontingent workers are those who do not meet the criteria for

any of the three definitions of contingent work.

3 Unionization rates are calculated by dividing the number of persons

who are members of a labor union or are covered by a union contract in a

specified worker group by total employment for the same worker group.

4 Data not shown where base employment is less than 75,000.

5

 Less than 0.05 percent.

NOTE: Data refer to members of a labor union or employee association

similar to a union as well as workers who report no union affiliation but

whose jobs are covered by a union or employee association contract.

 Industry

Table 5. Union affiliation of contingent and noncontingent wage and salary workers by industry,

 February 1999

Total, 16 years and older ......................................... 5,301 5.9 7.4 112,720 14.8 16.3

Agriculture ............................................................ 159 .0 .0 1,283 2.9 2.9

Mining ................................................................... 14 (4

) (4) 399 6.4 9.8

Construction ......................................................... 389 22.6 23.1 5,627 18.8 19.2

Manufacturing ...................................................... 444 6.5 7.4 18,646 16.5 17.6

Transportation and public utilities ......................... 175 18.3 19.4 9,025 32.2 34.4

Wholesale trade ................................................... 121 .8 3.3 4,173 4.2 5.1

Retail trade .......................................................... 578 3.1 5.4 20,115 5.3 5.7

Finance, insurance, and real estate .................... 154 (5

) (5) 7,535 2.9 3.5

Services ............................................................... 3,079 4.0 5.2 39,737 15.1 17.0

Public administration ............................................ 188 10.6 18.1 6,180 34.3 39.7

Contingent workers (estimate 3)1

Unionization rate3

Represented

by unions

Members

of unions

Total

(in thousands)

Total

(in thousands)

Members

of unions

Represented

by unions

 Unionization rate3

Noncontingent workers2
10 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

Chart 2. Contingency rates of full- and part-time workers by industry, February 1999

Full-time workers

Part-time workers

Finance,

insurance,

and real estate

Mining

Manufacturing

Wholesale trade

Public

administration

Services

Total employed

Agriculture

Retail trade

Transportation,

communications,

and public utilities

Construction

Percent

Percent

0 5 10 15 20

0 5 10 15 20
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 11

Occupation. As in the prior survey, contingent workers were

found in a wide range of occupations. (See table 3, p. 7.) Occupational categories that had the highest rates of contingency

were farming, forestry, and fishing; professional specialty;

and administrative support.

Within the professional specialty category, the contingency rate was highest—29 percent—for college and university instructors. In contrast, the rate for elementary and

secondary teachers was much lower (7.6 percent). The high

rate among postsecondary teachers most likely reflects

the use of more adjunct or temporary teachers by colleges

and universities, but also could be a result of the inherent

uncertainties of the tenure process, which plays an important role in higher education.12 Many younger college and

university instructors, for instance, may perceive their

jobs to be insecure because they have not yet earned tenure with their institution. The high contingency rate

among postsecondary teachers also may explain the high

rate among workers with advanced degrees. Of the 621,000

contingent workers with advanced degrees in 1999,

156,000, or 1 in every 4, was employed as a college or

university instructor. Interestingly, among postsecondary

teachers, individuals with contingent jobs were much more

likely than their noncontingent counterparts to be working part time; nearly three-fifths of postsecondary teachers employed in contingent jobs were working part time, in

contrast to only about one-tenth of noncontingent workers in the same occupation.

Other professional specialty occupations with relatively

high rates of contingency include physicians (12.3 percent);

biological and life scientists (11.8 percent); photographers

(9.1 percent); and actors and directors (7.8 percent). Within

the administrative support category, occupations that had

high contingency rates include library clerks (24.1 percent); interviewers (19.2 percent); general office clerks (14.0

percent); receptionists (8.9 percent); and typists (8.9 percent).

Not surprisingly, of the contingent workers employed in these

five administrative support occupations, a large proportion

were working through a temporary help agency, an alternative work arrangement that employs a large number of contingent workers.13

Contingent work and marital status

In addition to the impact of contingent work on individuals,

some researchers have expressed concern that the lack of job

security characterized by contingent employment arrangements has had a negative impact on families.14 As shown

below, however, married men and women have below-average

contingency rates.

Aged 16 years Aged 25 years

 and older and older

Men .......................................... 3.9 3.0

Married, spouse present ..... 2.5 2.4

Married, spouse absent ....... 7.7 8.2

Widowed ............................. 1.9 1.9

Divorced .............................. 3.9 4.0

Separated ............................. 4.3 4.0

Never married ...................... 7.2 4.8

Women ...................................... 4.7 3.7

Married, spouse present ..... 3.5 3.4

Married, spouse absent ...... 5.0 5.2

Widowed ............................. 4.2 4.2

Divorced .............................. 3.2 3.2

Separated ............................. 4.0 4.0

Never married ...................... 8.1 5.4

Contingency rates tend to be higher for individuals who

have never been married and for those who were married,

but whose spouse was absent. (An absence of a spouse, in

this context, could be due to a temporary work-related assignment overseas, for example.) By comparison, workers

who were widowed, divorced, or separated had a lower probability of holding a temporary job. The fact that contingent

work has somewhat more appeal to younger individuals

undoubtedly has some affect on the rates of contingency by

marital status.

Hours of work and multiple jobholding

Hours of work. As in prior surveys, part-time workers, that

is, those who usually work less than 35 hours per week,

were much more likely than full-time workers to hold contingent jobs. In 1999, about 10 percent of part-time workers

were contingent, in contrast to only 3 percent of full-time

workers.

Contingency rates for part-time workers were higher than

the overall rate for all the major industry groups. (See chart 2,

p. 10.) Among full-time workers, the rate of contingency was

above the overall rate in only two industries—agriculture

and construction. Although contingent work is a characteristic of part-time work regardless of the industry, this implies

that it also is closely related to certain kinds of work (farm

work and construction, for example).

As was the case in the 1995 and 1997 surveys, part-time

contingent and noncontingent workers were about equally

likely to choose part-time work, that is, they worked part

time voluntarily and not for economic reasons; about fourfifths of workers in each group chose to work part time. Of

those working part time for an economic reason, only

about 1 in every 10 was holding a job that was structured
12 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

Estimate 1 Estimate 2 Estimate 3

1995 1997 1999 1995 1997 1999 1995 1997 1999

Total, United States .......................... 2.2 1.9 1.9 2.8 2.4 2.3 4.9 4.4 4.3

 Northeast ....................................... 2.0 1.6 1.8 2.5 2.1 2.1 5.1 4.3 4.1

 New England ............................... 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.8 2.5 2.4 5.4 4.6 4.3

 Middle Atlantic ............................. 1.9 1.4 1.6 2.4 1.9 2.0 5.0 4.1 4.0

 Midwest .......................................... 2.1 1.7 1.6 2.6 2.2 2.0 4.6 3.9 3.6

 East North Central ....................... 2.1 1.5 1.4 2.6 1.9 1.8 4.4 3.5 3.4

 West North Central ...................... 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.7 2.6 2.4 5.1 4.6 4.2

 South ............................................. 2.1 1.7 1.7 2.7 2.3 2.1 4.5 3.9 3.9

 South Atlantic .............................. 2.1 1.7 1.5 2.6 2.3 2.0 4.4 4.0 3.9

 East South Central ...................... 1.8 1.5 1.9 2.3 1.8 2.1 4.1 3.4 3.9

 West South Central ...................... 2.5 1.9 1.9 3.2 2.5 2.3 4.9 4.0 3.9

 West ................................................ 2.7 2.6 2.4 3.3 3.3 3.1 5.7 5.9 5.8

 Mountain ...................................... 2.6 2.6 2.7 3.2 3.3 3.3 5.5 5.4 5.8

 Pacific .......................................... 2.7 2.7 2.4 3.3 3.3 3.0 5.8 6.1 5.7

to be temporary.

Compared with their noncontingent counterparts, workers holding contingent jobs put in slightly fewer hours per

week. For persons who usually worked full time, contingent

workers averaged 40.8 hours per week, compared with 42.7

hours per week for noncontingent workers. Among workers

who usually worked part time, average weekly hours for contingent workers were 16.9, compared with 20.6 for noncontingent workers. (See table 4, p. 8.)

Multiple jobholding. Because contingent workers are much

more likely than noncontingent workers to be employed part

time, one way to obtain more hours of work is to work at more

than one job. In 1999, the multiple jobholding rate—the proportion of workers who hold more than one job—for contingent workers was higher than that for noncontingent

workers. (For respondents who hold more than one job,

questions concerning contingency refer to their main job,

that is, the job at which they worked the most hours during

the survey reference week.) Compared with noncontingent

workers, contingent workers who were multiple jobholders

were much more likely to hold two or more part-time jobs; in

contrast, noncontingent workers were more likely to have

one full-time and one part-time job. The high multiple jobholding rate among contingent workers may be due to the

fact that they tend to work fewer hours and earn less, regardless of whether they are employed full or part time,

and, therefore, may need an additional job to supplement

their income. (See table 4, p. 8.)

Union affiliation

As in 1995 and 1997, contingent workers were much less

likely than noncontingent workers to be members of unions.

In 1999, the unionization rate for contingent workers was 5.9

percent, in contrast to 14.8 percent for noncontingent workers. (See table 5, p. 9.) The proportion of contingent workers

who were covered by a union contract, regardless of whether

the worker was a union member, also was much lower than

that for noncontingent workers.15

Although overall rates of union membership and union

representation were much lower for contingent workers, there

is a great deal of variation among the different industries. For

instance, unionization rates among contingent workers were

highest for individuals employed in construction and lowest

for workers in agriculture and finance, insurance, and real

estate. In fact, in construction, the proportion of contingent

workers who were members of unions or covered by a union

contract was actually higher than that for noncontingent

workers. The higher rate of unionization in the construction industry may be due to the nature of employment for

at least some of the workers in the industry, but also may

1 Contingency rates are calculated by dividing the number of contingent workers in a specified worker group by total employment for the same worker group.

Estimate 1 above is calculated using the narrowest definition of contingent work; estimate 3 uses the broadest definition. For the specific criteria used for each

definition, see the appendix, p. 25.

Table 6. Contingency rates by census region and division, February 1995–99

[In percent]

Contingency rates1

Census region and division
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 13

Reason and preference

be due to the historic role unions have played in construction. In this industry, much of the work involves projects

that are designed to last a limited period of time. Once a

project is completed, the workers move on to new ones.

One function of unions has been to provide job stability, and

thus, it may be that some contingent workers in construction

have consistently turned to unions, which traditionally

have played a significant role in helping construction workers transition between jobs through the use of hiring halls,

for example.

Regions

As in prior surveys, the likelihood of holding a contingent

job was greatest in the western region. In 1999, the contingency rate in the West was 5.8 percent, compared with 4.1

Table 7. Contingent workers by reason for contingency and preference for contingent

 and noncontingent work, February 1999

1 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers for ongoing employment. Estimate 1 above is calculated using the

narrowest definition of contingent work; estimate 3 uses the broadest

[Percent distribution]

 Total

 Total, 16 years and older (thousands) ........................................................................ 2,444 2,657 5,259

 Percent ....................................................................................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0

Economic reasons ........................................................................................................... 30.3 31.5 25.6

 Only type of work could find ......................................................................................... 19.2 20.3 15.3

 Hope job leads to permanent employment .................................................................... 5.9 5.6 5.2

 Other economic reason ................................................................................................. 5.2 5.7 5.1

Personal reasons ............................................................................................................ 57.8 56.5 52.3

 Flexibility of schedule and only wanted to work a short period of time ......................... 12.7 13.5 12.5

 Family or personal obligations and child-care problems ................................................ 5.2 4.8 3.6

 In school or training ...................................................................................................... 22.8 21.1 19.0

 Money is better ............................................................................................................. 1.1 1.3 1.1

 Other personal reason .................................................................................................. 16.0 15.7 16.1

Reason not available ....................................................................................................... 11.9 12.0 22.1

 Prefer contingent employment

 Total, 16 years and older (thousands) ........................................................................ 959 1,210 2,197

 Percent ....................................................................................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0

Economic reasons ........................................................................................................... 7.5 6.4 5.6

 Only type of work could find ......................................................................................... 2.2 2.0 1.3

 Hope job leads to permanent employment .................................................................... .8 .7 .6

 Other economic reason ................................................................................................. 4.5 3.8 3.6

Personal reasons ............................................................................................................ 83.1 69.1 70.6

 Flexibility of schedule and only wanted to work a short period of time ......................... 18.8 16.7 17.4

 Family or personal obligations and child-care problems ................................................ 6.9 5.5 4.6

 In school or training ...................................................................................................... 40.5 32.6 31.1

 Money is better ............................................................................................................. .4 .3 .4

 Other personal reason .................................................................................................. 16.4 14.0 17.3

Reason not available ....................................................................................................... 9.3 24.4 23.8

 Prefer noncontingent employment

 Total, 16 years and older (thousands) ........................................................................ 1,320 1,622 2,997

 Percent ....................................................................................................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0

Economic reasons ........................................................................................................... 49.5 46.7 40.5

 Only type of work could find ......................................................................................... 33.6 31.7 25.8

 Hope job leads to permanent employment .................................................................... 9.7 8.4 8.4

 Other economic reason ................................................................................................. 6.2 6.2 6.3

Personal reasons ............................................................................................................ 37.1 34.6 33.4

 Flexibility of schedule and only wanted to work a short period of time ......................... 7.7 8.0 7.3

 Family or personal obligations and child-care problems ................................................ 4.1 3.4 2.6

 In school or training ...................................................................................................... 9.5 8.4 8.6

 Money is better ............................................................................................................. 1.7 1.8 1.6

 Other personal reason .................................................................................................. 13.9 12.9 13.3

Reason not available ....................................................................................................... 13.3 18.7 26.0

definition. For the specific criteria used for each definition, see the appendix, p. 25.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Estimate 1 Estimate 2 Estimate 3

Contingent workers1
14 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

 Total

Total, 16 years and older (in thousands) ..................... 2,444 3,038 5,641 125,853

Actively searched for a new job

 Percent ................................................................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

“Permanent”........................................................ 86.1 87.0 86.5 90.8

Temporary ........................................................... 6.2 5.8 5.9 4.1

Any type ............................................................. 7.7 7.2 7.6 5.1

Job search rate ........................................................ 19.3 18.7 15.4 3.6

 Total, 25 years and older

Total (in thousands) ..................................................... 1,358 1,827 3,778 108,592

Actively searched for a new job ............................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

 Percent

“Permanent”........................................................ 90.5 90.1 88.6 93.2

Temporary ........................................................... 4.2 4.4 4.2 2.5

Any type ............................................................. 5.3 5.5 7.2 4.2

Job search rate ........................................................ 22.4 20.6 16.5 3.2

 Total, 16 to 24 years

Total (in thousands) ..................................................... 1,086 1,212 1,863 17,261

Actively searched for a new job ............................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

 Percent

“Permanent”........................................................ 78.3 80.9 81.2 82.6

Temporary ........................................................... 9.7 8.5 10.1 9.3

Any type ............................................................. 12.1 10.6 8.6 8.1

Job search rate ........................................................ 15.5 15.9 13.1 5.9

 Prefer noncontingent employment

Total, 16 years and older (in thousands) ..................... 1,320 1,622 2,997 (3)

Actively searched for a new job

 Percent ................................................................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 (3)

“Permanent”........................................................ 91.0 91.5 89.9 (3)

Temporary ........................................................... 2.7 2.3 2.8 (3)

Any type ............................................................. 6.3 6.3 7.4 (3)

Job search rate ........................................................ 32.5 31.6 25.9 (3)

Noncontingent

workers2

1 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers

for ongoing employment. Estimate 1 above is calculated using the narrowest definition of contingent work; estimate 3 uses the broadest definition.

For the specific criteria used for each definition, see the appendix, p. 25.

Table 8. Contingent and noncontingent workers who actively searched for a new job in the prior 3 months,

 by selected characteristics, February 1999

2 Noncontingent workers are those who do not meet the criteria for any

of the three definitions of contingent work.

3 Not applicable.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

percent in the Northeast, 3.9 percent in the South, and 3.6

percent in the Midwest.16 (See table 6, p. 12.)

The higher rate in the West is due, in part, to the region’s

industry composition. For example, the proportion of total

employment consisting of agriculture, which has an aboveaverage contingency rate, is slightly higher in the West than

in other regions. But, even in the West, workers in agriculture were much more likely than their counterparts in other

regions of the United States to hold a contingent job. The

contingency rate for agricultural workers in the western region was roughly 14 percent; in contrast, the rates in the

other regions ranged from about 2 percent in the Midwest to

nearly 4 percent in the South.

In the West, the proportion of workers employed in construction was higher than all but one of the other regions;

furthermore, the contingency rate for construction in the West

(6.9 percent) was higher than the rates for the other three

regions. Finally, as was the case with construction, the proEstimate 1 Estimate 2 Estimate 3

Contingent workers1

Characteristic
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 15

 Characteristic

Noncontingent4 Noncontingent4

portion of total employment in the West consisting of services was higher than all but one other region. The contingency rate for the services industry in the West (8.7 percent)

was more than 2 percentage points higher than the rates for

the other three regions.

Preferences, reasons, and job search

Preferences and reasons. In the survey, contingent workers

were asked if they preferred such work to noncontingent

employment, as well as the reason why they were employed

in a temporary job. Although more than one-half of contingent workers reported that they would rather be employed in

a noncontingent job, about two-fifths said they preferred

holding a temporary job, slightly higher than the proportion

in 1997. Contingent workers aged 16 to 24 were much more

likely to be satisfied with their current employment arrangement than their older counterparts aged 25 years and older.

More than half of the younger workers were happy with their

contingent jobs, in contrast to about one-fifth of adult men

and roughly one-third of adult women. (See chart 3.) As discussed earlier, a large proportion of younger workers enrolled in school held contingent jobs, and these students

probably preferred the flexibility afforded by temporary work

in order to balance work and school attendance. Indeed, threefifths of younger contingent workers enrolled in school said

that they were satisfied with their temporary job.

The following tabulation shows preferences of older contingent workers for their current arrangement by race and

Hispanic origin.

1 Full-time workers are those who usually work 35 hours per week or

more.

2 Part-time workers are those who usually work 1 to 34 hours per week.

3 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers

for ongoing employment. Estimate 3 is calculated using the broadest definition of contingent work. See the appendix, p. 25.

4 Noncontingent workers are those who do not meet the criteria for

any of the three definitions of contingent work.

5 Data not shown where base employment is less than 75,000.

 Age and sex

 Total, 16 years and older ...................................................... $415 $542 $114 $160

16 to 19 years ............................................................................. 257 278 83 104

20 to 24 years ............................................................................. 350 362 106 143

25 years and older ...................................................................... 471 581 159 207

25 to 34 years ......................................................................... 444 510 171 218

35 to 44 years ......................................................................... 504 599 175 210

45 to 54 years ......................................................................... 494 647 164 229

55 to 64 years ......................................................................... 540 616 144 194

65 years and older ................................................................... (5

) 369 111 149

Men, 16 years and older .............................................................. 494 614 119 150

Women, 16 years and older ......................................................... 340 476 112 166

 Race and Hispanic origin

White ........................................................................................... 420 564 113 161

Black ........................................................................................... 350 447 122 150

Hispanic origin ............................................................................. 313 396 116 159

 Educational attainment

Less than a high school diploma ................................................. 295 334 92 110

High school graduates, no college .............................................. 353 447 133 171

Some college, no degree ............................................................. 438 512 93 155

Associate degree ........................................................................ 445 590 142 218

College graduates ........................................................................ 581 840 191 268

Contingent

estimate 33

Contingent

estimate 33

Full-time workers1 Part-time workers2

Table 9. Median weekly earnings of full- and part-time time contingent and noncontingent wage

 and salary workers by selected characteristics, February 1999

Median weekly earnings
16 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

 Contingent workers

 (estimate 3)

 White Black Hispanic

 origin

Total, 25 years and older

 (In thousands) .......................... 3,023 459 516

Percent ......................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0

Prefer noncontingent employment .. 54.3 65.4 73.1

Prefer contingent employment ........ 29.8 20.2 15.5

It depends ........................................ 5.3 4.6 2.7

Preference not available ................... 10.6 9.8 8.7

Hispanics were most likely to be dissatisfied with being in a

contingent job. Nearly three-fourths of Hispanics aged 25

years and older would prefer a permanent job, compared with

about two-thirds of blacks and more than half of whites.

Research conducted by Susan N. Houseman and Anne E.

Polivka helps shine some light on why many older contingent workers feel unhappy with their current employment

arrangement.17 Using the longitudinal capability of the CPS,

the authors matched information from households in the February 1995 Contingent and Alternative Work Arrangements

Survey and the February 1996 "Basic" CPS. Houseman and

Polivka found that workers employed in temporary jobs in

1995 were more likely than individuals with "regular" jobs to

have changed employers, to be unemployed, or to have dropped

out of the labor force when surveyed again in 1996. For older

workers, it appears that the lack of job stability associated

with contingent employment is less desirable probably because, in general, older workers tend to be more risk-averse

than their younger counterparts. Many older workers may

perceive that they have more to lose in terms of benefits such

as pensions, for example, which typically accrue to workers

with permanent jobs, especially those employed full time.

In 1999, contingent workers were more likely to provide a

personal reason for choosing to accept their contingent jobs

than were their counterparts in the prior surveys. The proportion who gave a personal reason for holding a contingent

job has risen steadily since the first survey on contingent

work was conducted, suggesting that, since 1995, contingent

work has become more of a voluntary choice, coinciding with

a period of declining unemployment and strong job growth.

About 1 in every 5 contingent workers reported attending

school or training as the reason they held their current job,

and roughly 1 in every 10 gave either flexibility of schedule,

or family or personal obligations as the reason for holding a

contingent job. (See table 7, p. 13.) These reasons imply that

contingent work enabled some individuals to join the

workforce despite their involvement in other activities. The

Percent

Chart 3. Contingent workers by their preference for contingent or noncontingent 

 work arrangements by age and sex, February 1999 Percent

Both sexes, aged 16 to 24 Women, aged 25 and older

0

20

40

60

80

0

20

40

60

80

Prefer contingent 

Prefer noncontingent

It depends

Men, aged 25 and older
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 17

1 Full-time workers are those who usually work 35 hours per week or more.

2 Part-time workers are those who usually work 1 to 34 hours per week.

3

 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers for

ongoing employment. Estimate 3 is calculated using the broadest definition of

Noncontingent4 Noncontingent4

contingent work. For the specific criteria used for each definition, see the

appendix, p. 25.

4 Noncontingent workers are those who do not meet the criteria for any of

the three definitions of contingent work.

5 Data not shown where base employment is less than 75,000.

most common economic reason reported by contingent workers was that it was the only type of work that could be found;

15 percent gave such a reason in 1999, somewhat lower than

the proportion in the 1997 survey.

Although slightly more than half of contingent workers

gave personal reasons for holding their contingent jobs, the

proportion was much lower—one-third—for those who were

dissatisfied with their contingent job.18 The most common

economic reason given by contingent workers who preferred

a permanent job was that it was the only job they could find;

about 1 in 4 contingent workers dissatisfied with their current arrangement gave such a reason. Not surprisingly,

the majority of contingent workers who preferred temporary work gave a personal reason for holding a contingent

job. A large proportion—nearly one-third—reported that

they preferred temporary work because they were attending school or in training and an additional 17 percent cited

the flexibility of the arrangement as the main reason for

 Occupation

Managerial and professional specialty ........................ $620 $786 $150 $268

 Executive, administrative, and managerial ............. 662 776 150 260

 Professional specialty ............................................ 591 792 150 271

Technical, sales, and administrative support .............. 381 482 109 161

 Technicians and related support ............................. 550 583 124 302

 Sales occupations .................................................. 515 521 105 133

 Administrative support, including clerical ................ 434 442 109 186

Service occupations .................................................... 288 346 97 140

 Private household ................................................... 123 220 104 119

 Other services ........................................................ 301 351 95 140

Precision, production, craft, and repair ....................... 583 589 132 230

Operators, fabricators, and laborers ........................... 343 417 123 148

Farming, forestry, and fishing ...................................... 248 333 88 185

 Industry

Agriculture ................................................................... 243 318 87 166

Mining .......................................................................... (5) 705 (5

) (5)

Construction ................................................................ 641 552 143 182

Manufacturing .............................................................. 389 551 196 198

 Durable goods ......................................................... 407 585 209 274

 Nondurable goods ................................................... 358 505 124 175

Transportation, communications,

 and other public utilities .......................................... 504 675 174 255

Wholesale trade ........................................................... 405 575 (5

) 156

Retail trade .................................................................. 316 386 110 135

Finance, insurance, and real estate ............................ 377 578 153 209

Services ...................................................................... 417 552 110 181

 Private household ................................................... 131 229 107 134

 Other services ........................................................ 421 558 110 183

 Professional services .......................................... 474 596 106 199

Public administration ................................................... 660 663 124 180

Table 10. Median weekly earnings of full- and part-time contingent and noncontingent

 wage and salary workers by occupation and industry, February 1999

Occupation and industry

Median weekly earnings

Full-time workers1 Part-time workers2

Contingent

(estimate 3)3

Contingent

(estimate 3)3

Text continues on page 20. ext continues on page 20. ext continues on page 20.
18 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

1 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers

for ongoing employment. Estimate 3 uses the broadest definition of contingent work. See the appendix, p. 25.

2 Noncontingent workers are those who do not meet the criteria for

any of the three definitions of contingent work.

3 Less than 0.05 percent.

4 Excludes workers aged 16 to 24 years enrolled in school.

NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum

to totals because data for the “other races” group are not presented and

Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Detail

for other characteristics may not sum to totals due to rounding. Data

exclude the incorporated self-employed and independent contractors.

Characteristic

 Percent with health insurance coverage Percent with health insurance coverage

 Age and sex

 Total, 16 years and older

 (thousands) ................... 5,259 64.8 22.1 1.6 33.9 111,801 83.0 61.5 0.7 74.2

16 to 19 years ..................... 726 73.8 3.9 (3) 11.7 5,852 73.3 10.0 .1 23.8

20 to 24 years ..................... 1,062 60.7 14.1 .5 26.6 10,987 66.8 43.0 .3 59.4

25 years and older .............. 3,472 64.1 28.4 2.3 40.7 94,961 85.4 66.8 .8 79.0

 25 to 34 years ................... 1,240 55.8 30.1 1.1 44.0 27,391 80.1 64.1 .6 77.3

 35 to 44 years ................... 978 63.6 28.0 1.7 37.6 31,212 85.6 68.1 .6 80.2

 45 to 54 years ................... 697 67.1 29.3 3.3 45.3 23,646 89.3 70.7 .9 82.5

 55 to 64 years ................... 341 76.2 30.2 3.5 40.5 10,260 89.4 68.1 1.4 78.7

 65 years and older ............ 215 85.6 14.9 6.0 21.9 2,452 89.2 36.9 1.9 50.9

Men ..................................... 2,569 60.0 24.1 2.3 35.3 58,057 82.3 66.9 1.1 77.0

Women ................................ 2,691 69.3 20.2 .9 32.6 53,744 83.7 55.6 .3 71.2

Race and Hispanic origin

White ................................... 4,201 66.6 22.6 1.7 34.2 93,646 84.1 61.5 .8 74.3

Black ................................... 651 50.1 15.4 1.1 30.9 13,248 76.3 61.4 .4 74.1

Hispanic origin ..................... 704 37.8 17.5 .0 26.6 11,796 63.0 49.5 .8 61.1

 Full- or part-time status

Full-time workers ................. 2,828 59.4 33.3 2.2 46.7 92,480 84.9 70.7 .7 82.7

Part-time workers ................ 2,414 71.0 8.7 .9 18.6 19,079 74.0 17.0 .7 32.9

 Educational attainment4

Less than

 a high school diploma ...... 538 29.7 11.0 .9 20.8 10,752 59.8 43.9 .6 56.6

High school graduates,

 no college ........................ 1,108 53.3 16.5 3.2 29.3 34,631 79.6 60.0 .9 73.3

Some college, no degree ..... 707 59.7 26.9 2.1 43.3 20,104 84.9 65.2 .9 79.0

Associate degree ................ 267 65.9 25.8 3.4 41.2 9,367 88.1 67.6 1.0 81.7

College graduates ................ 1,449 76.5 37.9 1.2 50.5 29,905 93.5 77.0 .5 87.5

 Advanced degree .............. 573 84.8 47.1 2.6 59.2 9,445 95.4 80.9 .5 90.5

Total

(in

thousands)

Total

(in

thousands) Total Total

Through

current

employer

at main job

Through

other job

or union

Through

current

employer

at main job

Through

other job

or union

Eligible for

employerprovided

health

insurance

Eligible for

employerprovided

health

insurance

Contingent workers (estimate 3)1 Noncontingent workers2

Table 11. Contingent and noncontingent wage salary workers with health insurance coverage

 by selected characteristics, February 1999

[In percent]
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 19

1 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers

for ongoing employment. Estimate 3 uses the broadest definition of contingent work. See the appendix, p. 25.

2 Noncontingent workers are those who do not meet the criteria for

any of the three definitions of contingent work.

3 Less than 0.05 percent.

4 Data not shown where base employment is less than 75,000.

NOTE: Data exclude the incorporated self-employed and independent

contractors.

Occupation and industry

 Occupation

Managerial and professional specialty ...... 1,689 81.2 37.4 1.1 47.8 32,874 93.1 75.3 0.4 86.8

 Executive, administrative,

 and managerial ................................... 343 80.5 47.2 1.2 56.3 15,788 92.3 75.6 .4 87.1

 Professional specialty ............................ 1,345 81.5 34.9 1.1 45.7 17,086 93.9 75.0 .3 86.6

Technical, sales, and administrative

 support ............................................... 1,556 64.8 16.5 1.0 31.7 33,794 84.5 58.2 .5 73.2

 Technicians and related support ............ 170 67.1 27.1 1.8 46.5 3,892 90.9 70.9 .5 84.1

 Sales occupations ................................. 317 58.7 14.2 .9 22.7 12,795 79.5 48.4 .6 64.3

 Administrative support, including

 clerical ................................................. 1,069 66.1 15.3 .8 32.0 17,107 86.8 62.7 .4 77.3

Service occupations .................................. 715 57.8 8.3 .3 17.8 15,678 69.1 38.9 .6 52.7

 Private household ................................. 102 54.9 7.8 (3

) 7.8 489 44.0 4.1 (3) 5.3

 Other services ...................................... 613 58.2 8.3 .3 19.4 15,189 69.9 40.0 .6 54.3

Precision production, craft,

 and repair ............................................... 432 54.4 18.8 8.6 31.3 12,030 80.2 67.1 2.4 76.5

Operators, fabricators, and laborers ......... 676 50.0 18.5 1.6 29.9 16,044 76.7 59.9 1.1 71.9

Farming, forestry, and fishing .................... 193 21.2 5.7 (3) 8.8 1,381 58.9 36.1 .6 48.6

 Industry

Agriculture ................................................. 159 18.2 6.3 (3) 8.2 1,310 58.9 32.9 .1 44.6

Mining ........................................................ 14 (4

) (4) (4) (4) 503 87.1 83.7 (3) 88.9

Construction .............................................. 382 48.7 20.2 10.5 34.0 5,669 69.8 49.4 4.4 61.0

Manufacturing ............................................ 434 62.4 32.7 1.1 46.3 19,275 88.7 78.2 .3 87.6

 Durable goods ....................................... 284 62.3 35.6 1.1 52.8 11,849 90.0 80.1 .3 89.2

 Nondurable goods ................................. 150 62.7 29.3 1.3 35.3 7,369 86.6 75.2 .3 85.3

Transportation and public utilities .............. 175 70.3 34.9 5.1 44.6 8,628 87.6 75.6 1.0 84.3

Wholesale trade ......................................... 121 66.9 27.3 (3) 33.1 4,442 85.9 68.5 .9 81.3

Retail trade ................................................ 569 57.3 10.4 .8 20.4 19,406 70.7 36.4 .8 53.2

Finance, insurance,

 and real estate ....................................... 150 66.7 38.7 (3) 46.0 7,559 89.2 68.4 .5 81.9

Services .................................................... 3,062 69.4 20.9 .8 33.2 39,078 84.5 59.2 .5 73.3

 Private household ................................. 109 51.4 7.3 (3) 7.3 528 44.5 4.7 (3) 5.9

 Other services ...................................... 2,953 70.0 21.4 .9 34.1 38,551 85.1 59.9 .5 74.2

 Professional and related services .... 2,006 79.7 25.7 .8 36.2 27,753 89.4 64.4 .4 78.8

Public administration ................................. 187 81.3 37.4 .4 56.1 5,930 95.0 85.6 .3 92.7

[In percent]

Total

(in

thousands)

Total

(in

thousands)

Total Total

Through

current

employer

at main

job

Through

current

employer

at main

job

Through

other

job or

union

Through

other

job or

union

Eligible

for

employerprovided

health

insurance

Eligible

for

employerprovided

health

insurance

Table 12. Contingent and noncontingent wage and salary workers with health insurance

 coverage by occupation and industry, February 1999

Contingent workers (estimate 3)1 Noncontingent workers2

Percent with health insurance coverage Percent with health insurance coverage
20 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

holding a contingent job. (See table 7, p. 13.)

Job search. An additional way to gauge workers’ satisfaction with their current employment arrangement is whether

they are looking for another job. In the survey, employed

individuals are asked whether they had searched for a job in

the 3 months prior to the survey date, or since the start of

their current job if they began working at the job sometime

during those 3 months.19 Additional information is obtained

with respect to whether the jobseeker is looking for an additional job or a new job, and, if an individual is seeking a new

job, he or she is asked whether the job sought is a permanent

job, a temporary job, or simply any type of job that can be

found. The focus in this section is on contingent and noncontingent workers who used active methods to search for a

new job. Active job-search methods include scheduling interviews, contacting an employer directly, registering at a

public or private employment agency, contacting friends or

relatives about available jobs, sending out résumés or filling

out applications, and placing or answering ads.

In the 3 months prior to February 1999, approximately 15

percent of contingent workers had actively looked for a new

job, compared with only about 4 percent of noncontingent

workers. (See table 8, p. 14.) Interestingly, the job search rate

for both contingent and noncontingent workers has steadily

declined since the first survey was conducted in 1995. As

was the case in prior surveys, the vast majority of contingent

and noncontingent workers were looking for a “permanent”

job instead of a new temporary job. Among contingent workers, the proportion aged 25 years and older who had looked

for work was only slightly higher than that for 16- to 24-

year-olds. In contrast, the fraction of younger noncontingent workers who had actively looked for a new job in the

3 months preceding the survey was nearly twice that of

their older counterparts.

Contingent workers who reported that they preferred a

noncontingent job were most likely to have actively searched

for a new job in the 3 months preceding the February 1999

survey. Indeed, more than 1 in every 4 had actively looked for

a new job, in contrast with only 4 percent of contingent workers who were happy with their temporary job.

Compensation

Earnings. As in 1995 and 1997, contingent workers in 1999

earned less than noncontingent workers. Median weekly

earnings for all contingent workers, that is, both full- and

part-time workers combined, were $261, compared with $479

for their noncontingent counterparts. The large disparity in

earnings between the two groups reflects differences in demographics, work schedules, occupational and industry

concentrations, and employee tenure. As mentioned earlier,

contingent workers were twice as likely as noncontingent

workers to be employed part time.

Yet, even among individuals employed full time, median

weekly earnings for contingent workers ($415) were only 77

percent of the median for noncontingent workers ($542). A

similar pattern was found among part-time workers. Median

weekly earnings for part-time contingent workers were $114,

or only about 71 percent of what noncontingent workers

earned ($160). The contingent-to-noncontingent earnings ratios among both full- and part-time workers were roughly

similar for all the major demographic groups—men, women,

whites, blacks, and Hispanics. (See table 9, p. 15.)

Interestingly, between 1997 and 1999, median weekly earnings for both full- and part-time contingent workers were little

changed, while earnings for full- and part-time noncontingent workers rose by 6.3 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively. The stagnation in earnings growth for contingent

workers between the two surveys could be due to shifts in

the demographic composition of contingent workers between

the two survey dates. For instance, compared with 1997,

somewhat larger proportions of contingent workers in 1999

either were high school dropouts or under the age of 25, and

workers in these groups, in general, tend to be on the lower

end of the earnings spectrum.

As in the 1995 and 1997 surveys, contingent workers were

found in both low- and high-skilled occupations, and, as a

result, there is a large degree of variation in their earnings by

occupation. Among occupations that had relatively high

rates of contingency, full-time workers in professional specialty occupations had the highest weekly earnings ($620),

followed by administrative support ($343), and farming, forestry, and fishing ($248). (See table 10, p. 17.)

Health insurance. As in prior surveys, contingent workers

in 1999 were much less likely than noncontingent workers to

have employer-provided health insurance; slightly more than

one-fifth had health insurance from their employer, compared

with more than three-fifths of noncontingent workers.20 (See

table 11, p. 18.) As was the case with earnings, the low coverage rates among contingent workers can be explained, in

part, by the composition of the contingent workforce—its

age, work schedules, employee tenure, and occupational and

industry concentrations.

Although most contingent workers did not receive health

insurance from their employers, a substantial proportion—

nearly two-thirds—had health insurance from some source,

including coverage from another family member or by purchasing it on their own. Although the overall health insurance coverage rate for contingent workers was lower than

that for noncontingent workers, the absolute number of non-
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 21

1 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers for

ongoing employment. Estimate 3 above is calculated using the broadest

definition of contingent work. For the specific criteria used for each definition, see the appendix, p. 25.

2 Noncontingent workers are those who do not meet the criteria for any

of the three definitions of contingent work.

3 Excludes workers aged 16 to 24 years enrolled in school.

NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum

to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented.

Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Detail

for other characteristics may not sum to totals due to rounding. Data

exclude the incorporated self-employed and indepentdent contractors.

contingent workers lacking health insurance (19.0 million)

greatly exceeded the number of uninsured contingent workers—1.9 million.

Among contingent workers, health insurance coverage

rates were highest—and nearly equal to their noncontingent

counterparts—for teenagers and those aged 65 years and

older. Even though these two groups were among the least

likely to have coverage through their employer, teenagers

often are covered under their parents’ health insurance plans,

and individuals in the older age group have almost universal

coverage under medicare. Among workers in the central-age

group (aged 25 to 54 years), however, there was a substantial

disparity in coverage rates between contingent and noncontingent workers: about three-fifths of contingent workers had

coverage, in contrast to more than four-fifths of those with

noncontingent jobs.

As was the case in 1995 and 1997, women with contingent

jobs were less likely than men to receive health insurance

from their employers, although a higher proportion of women

had coverage from some source. The most common source

[In percent]

Table 13. Contingent and noncontingent wage and salary workers with pension coverage

 by selected characteristics, February 1999

Contingent workers (estimate 3)1 Noncontingent workers2

Total

(in

thousands)

Total

(in

thousands)

Characteristic

 Age and sex

 Total, 16 years and over ..................... 5,259 14.6 23.0 111,801 51.4 59.0

16 to 19 years ........................................... 726 .6 8.3 5,852 4.3 14.1

20 to 24 years ........................................... 1,062 4.7 14.3 10,987 22.9 37.8

25 years and older .................................... 3,472 20.7 28.8 94,961 57.6 64.2

 25 to 34 years ...................................... 1,240 14.9 25.1 27,391 49.7 59.6

 35 to 44 years ...................................... 978 20.3 26.9 31,212 59.9 66.2

 45 to 54 years ...................................... 697 24.2 31.1 23,646 65.0 69.5

 55 to 64 years ...................................... 341 36.7 43.7 10,260 60.6 64.9

 65 years and older ................................ 215 18.6 27.4 2,452 31.8 37.3

Men ........................................................... 2,569 15.6 24.4 58,057 53.8 60.6

Women ...................................................... 2,691 13.6 21.7 53,744 48.8 57.3

 Race and Hispanic origin

White ......................................................... 4,201 15.3 23.8 93,646 52.0 59.3

Black ......................................................... 651 13.1 21.8 13,248 49.7 59.2

Hispanic origin ........................................... 704 8.9 16.3 11,796 34.0 41.0

 Full- and part-time status

Full-time workers ....................................... 2,828 21.1 31.6 92,480 58.3 66.1

Part-time workers ...................................... 2,414 6.8 12.9 19,079 17.6 24.7

 Educational attainment3

Less than a high school diploma ............... 538 4.8 10.4 10,752 25.6 33.3

High school graduates, no college ............ 1,108 12.3 20.9 34,631 47.9 56.1

Some college, no degree ........................... 707 17.3 26.0 20,104 54.4 63.0

Associate degree ...................................... 267 20.2 27.0 9,367 59.6 67.4

College graduates ...................................... 1,449 28.4 38.7 26,905 70.7 76.5

 Advanced degree .................................... 574 29.8 40.4 9,444 76.4 80.5

Eligible for

employerprovided

pension

Percent with

pension

coverage

Percent with

pension

coverage

Eligible for

employerprovided

pension
22 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

 Occupation

Managerial and professional specialty ................................... 1,689 27.5 36.3 32,874 68.5 74.4

 Executive, administrative, and managerial ........................... 343 36.2 42.9 15,788 66.9 72.9

 Professional specialty .......................................................... 1,345 25.3 34.6 17,086 70.0 75.7

Technical, sales, and administrative support ......................... 1,556 10.4 20.0 33,794 49.4 58.9

 Technicians and related support .......................................... 170 16.5 27.1 3,892 62.1 70.9

 Sales occupations ............................................................... 317 6.0 15.1 12,795 38.6 48.7

 Administrative support, including clerical ............................. 1,069 10.8 20.3 17,107 54.6 63.9

Service occupations ............................................................... 715 2.8 9.7 15,678 29.0 36.3

 Private household ................................................................ 102 (3) (3

) 489 .8 1.8

 Other services ..................................................................... 613 3.3 11.3 15,189 29.9 37.4

Precision production, craft, and repair ................................... 432 15.3 21.3 12,030 52.2 58.1

Operators, fabricators, and laborers ...................................... 676 8.3 17.8 16,044 44.5 53.5

Farming, forestry, and fishing ................................................. 193 .5 4.1 1,381 18.7 24.3

 Industry

Agriculture .............................................................................. 159 .0 4.4 1,310 17.0 19.8

Mining ..................................................................................... 14 (4) (4) 503 62.4 69.6

Construction ........................................................................... 382 19.4 23.3 5,669 35.1 40.2

Manufacturing ......................................................................... 441 20.0 28.6 19,275 64.4 72.3

 Durable goods ...................................................................... 284 23.6 31.0 11,849 66.3 73.8

 Nondurable goods ................................................................ 150 14.0 25.3 7,369 61.6 70.1

Transportation and public utilities ........................................... 175 25.7 41.1 8,628 65.2 71.0

Wholesale trade ...................................................................... 121 6.6 28.1 4,442 51.8 60.9

Retail trade ............................................................................. 569 3.7 11.2 19,406 25.2 36.1

Finance, insurance, and real estate ....................................... 150 22.7 26.7 7,559 59.5 69.0

Services ................................................................................. 3,062 14.0 22.6 39,078 51.2 58.4

 Private household ................................................................ 109 (3

) (3) 528 .8 1.7

 Other services ..................................................................... 2,953 14.5 23.4 38,551 51.9 59.1

 Professional and related services ..................................... 2,006 18.1 26.4 27,753 59.4 66.3

Public administration .............................................................. 187 31.6 41.7 5,930 87.1 89.4

1 Contingent workers are defined as individuals who do not perceive

themselves as having an explicit or implicit contract with their employers for

ongoing employment. Estimate 3 is calculated using the broadest definition of

contingent work. See the appendix, p. 25.

2 Noncontingent workers are those who do not meet the criteria for any of

the three definitions of contingent work.

Total in

thousands

Total in

thousands

3 Less than 0.05 percent.

4 Data not shown where base employment is less than 75,000.

NOTE: Data exclude the incorporated self-employed and independent

contractors.

Table 14. Contingent and noncontingent wage and salary workers with pension coverage

 by occupation and industry, February 1999

[In percent]

Percent

with

pension

coverage

Percent

with

pension

coverage

Eligible for

employerprovided

pension

Eligible for

employerprovided

pension

Occupation and industry

Contingent workers (estimate 3)1 Noncontingent workers2

of health insurance coverage for female contingent workers was

another family member; more than one-third had coverage from

another member of their family, mostly through their spouses.

Of workers in contingent arrangements, whites had much

higher health insurance coverage rates than either blacks or

Hispanics. Two-thirds of whites had health insurance, compared with half of blacks, and nearly two-fifths of Hispanics.

Whites also were more likely than blacks or Hispanics to

receive coverage from their employers.

More-educated workers were more likely than their lesseducated counterparts to have health insurance. This relation

holds for receipt of, and eligibility for, employer-provided

coverage, and applies to both contingent and noncontingent workers. Still, at each level of educational attainment,
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 23

contingent workers were less likely than noncontingent workers to have health insurance from any source.

With the exception of private household workers, contingent workers were less likely than noncontingent workers to

have health insurance coverage from any source in every

occupational category; they also were much less likely to

have, or be eligible for, employer-provided health insurance

coverage. However, eligibility and employer-provided coverage rates vary considerably by occupation. For instance, managers and professionals in both contingent and noncontingent

employment arrangements were more likely to have, or be eligible for, employer-provided health insurance than their counterparts in other occupations. At the other end of the spectrum,

workers in service and farming occupations in both contingent

and noncontingent jobs had the lowest employer-provided coverage and eligibility rates. (See table 12, p. 19.)

In terms of industry, there was a large degree of heterogeneity among the various industries in employer-provided

coverage and eligibility rates. Among both contingent and

noncontingent workers, individuals employed in public administration and durable goods manufacturing tended to

have higher employer-provided coverage and eligibility rates

than their counterparts in other industries. Moreover, rates for

contingent workers in public administration and durable goods

manufacturing exceeded the rates for noncontingent workers

employed in private household services and agriculture.

As mentioned earlier, the proportion of contingent workers in the construction industry who were union members

was higher than that of their noncontingent counterparts. In

addition to possibly helping contingent workers transition

between jobs through the use of hiring halls, unions in the

construction industry also appear to be a source of health

insurance coverage for many of these workers. Indeed, in

construction, the proportion of contingent workers who received coverage through their union (11 percent) was more

than twice that of noncontingent workers (4 percent).

Pensions. As in prior surveys, contingent workers were

much less likely than those with noncontingent arrangements to participate in employer-sponsored pension plans.21

In 1999, only 15 percent of contingent workers participated in

such plans, in contrast to a bit more than half of noncontingent

workers. (See table 13, p. 21.) Furthermore, the proportion of

contingent workers eligible to participate in their employers’

pension plan—approximately one-fourth—was much lower

than that for noncontingent workers (nearly three-fifths). Although the coverage rate for contingent workers is much

lower than the rate for noncontingent workers, the number of

noncontingent workers who lack pensions (54.3 million)

greatly exceeded the number of contingent workers without

pensions—4.5 million.22

Contingent workers aged 16 to 24, who constitute onethird of all contingent workers, were much less likely than

those aged 25 and older to participate in pension plans or to

work in industries that are more likely to offer pensions to

their employees. Among every major demographic group,

individuals in contingent employment arrangements were

less likely than their noncontingent counterparts to have, or

be eligible for, employer-provided pensions. However, even

though there was a great deal of variation among the different industries in coverage and eligibility rates, contingent

workers were less likely than noncontingent workers to have

pensions in nearly every occupation and industry group.

(See table 14.)

DESPITE THE ECONOMIC EXPANSION that continued into the

late-1990s, both the number of contingent workers and the

proportion of total employment composed of such workers

changed little between 1997 and 1999. Characteristics of

workers with contingent jobs also were very similar to those

identified in the prior surveys. The probability of holding a

contingent job continued to be greater for women, workers

under the age of 25, students, noncitizens, and those employed part time. As in earlier surveys, contingent work was

more prevalent in agriculture, construction, and services.

Contingent workers also continued to be found in both highand low-skilled occupations. Individuals employed in professional specialty, administrative support, and farming

occupations were about equally likely to hold a contingent job.

A majority of contingent workers would have preferred a

permanent job, although many were happy with their current

arrangement. Students, in particular, were most likely to be

satisfied with temporary jobs, probably because many wanted

the flexibility afforded by contingent work. Compared with

prior surveys, individuals with contingent jobs were more

likely to have cited personal, as opposed to economic, reasons for being employed in a contingent arrangement, suggesting that contingent work was more of a voluntary choice

in 1999. Nevertheless, individuals employed in contingent

jobs continued to be much more likely than noncontingent

workers to have actively searched for a new job in the 3

months prior to the survey date, indicating that many contingent workers were not satisfied with their current employment arrangement.

Data from the most recent survey continued to show that

contingent workers earned less and were less likely than those

with noncontingent jobs to have been included in employerprovided health or pension plans. However, when comparing

the wages and employee benefits of workers in contingent

and noncontingent arrangements, there was a large degree

of variation with regard to age, educational attainment, occupation, and industry.
24 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

Notes

ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The author thanks Bernard R. Altschuler, Robert

J. McIntire, and Anne E. Polivka for their assistance in tabulating

much of the data that appears in this article.

1

 Contingency rates are calculated by dividing the number of contingent workers in a specified worker group by total employment for

the same worker group.

2

 Data on employment and unemployment are derived from the

Current Population Survey (CPS), a nationwide sample survey of about

50,000 households, conducted monthly by the Bureau of the Census

for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CPS collects information about

the demographic characteristics and employment status of the noninstitutional civilian population aged 16 years and older.

3

 Special supplements to the CPS are routinely added to obtain information on a wide range of topics including, for example, income and

work experience, displaced workers, employee tenure and occupational mobility, employment status of veterans, work schedules,

home-based work, and school enrollment.

4

 For more information on the concepts and definitions of contingent work, see Anne E. Polivka, "Contingent and alternative

work arrangements, defined," Monthly Labor Review, October

1996, pp. 3–9.

5

 Testimony of Audrey Freedman before the Employment and

Housing Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, U.S. House of Representatives, May 19, 1988.

6

 A recent study, using data from the Contingent and Alternative

Work Arrangements Survey, divided total employment into eight

mutually exclusive groups: agency temporaries, on-call workers, contract company workers, direct-hire temporary workers, independent

contractors, regular self-employed, regular part-time workers, and

regular full-time workers. Excluding regular full-time workers, the

seven “nonstandard” arrangements totaled 32.5 percent of total workers in 1995 and 31.3 percent in 1997. (Although the study focuses on

data from the 1995 and 1997 surveys, 29.9 percent of the workforce

was in a nonstandard employment arrangement in 1999.) The authors found that the characteristics of workers in these different

arrangements varied considerably, as do the types of jobs they perform. In addition, measures of job quality such as earnings, health

insurance coverage, and job satisfaction varied greatly. The authors

conclude that, because of this variation, combining all of these workers into a single category is arbitrary and misleading, and that all jobs

in nonstandard arrangements should not be automatically viewed as

“bad jobs.” See Anne E. Polivka, Sharon R. Cohany, and Steven Hipple,

“Definition, Composition, and Economic Consequences of the Nonstandard Work Force,” in Françoise Carré, Marianne A. Ferber, Lonnie

Golden, and Stephen A. Herzenberg, eds., Nonstandard Work: The

Nature and Challenges of Changing Employment Arrangements (Industrial Relations Research Association, 2000), pp. 41–94.

7

 See Anne E. Polivka and Thomas Nardone, “On the definition

of ‘contingent work’,” Monthly Labor Review, December 1989,

pp. 9–16.

8

 The large proportion of contingent workers reporting that “they

were working only until a specific project was completed” may be due,

in part, to an “order” effect. In the survey, a series of questions

collects information on the reason a job is temporary. Once a respondent gives a “yes” answer to one of the questions in the series, he

or she is skipped to questions on expected duration of employment.

Because the question, “Are you working only until a specific

project is completed?” is the first one in the series, respondents

may have a tendency to respond affirmatively to this question, and

thus, are skipped over the other questions pertaining to “reasons.” In

addition, because February is a month in which seasonal work is relatively uncommon, the small proportion reporting that their job was

temporary because it was a “seasonal job” might be due to the timing

of the survey.

9

 In the survey, conducted in 1996 by the Upjohn Institute for

Employment Research, employers could provide more than one reason for employing temporary workers. The specific percentages by

reason were: to fill seasonal needs (54.8 percent); to help with special

projects (37.6 percent); to help during unexpected increases in business (31.0 percent); to fill in for an absent employee (30.0 percent);

to fill in until a regular worker is hired (20.5 percent); to employ

workers with special expertise (15.7 percent); to screen candidates

for "regular" jobs (9.0 percent); to reduce the cost of wages and

benefits (8.0 percent); and to provide assistance during company

restructuring or merger (6.2 percent). In the study, data on reasons

for using flexible employment arrangements also were reported for

agency temporaries, part-time workers, and on-call workers. See Susan N. Houseman, “Why Employers Use Flexible Staffing Arrangements: Evidence from an Establishment Survey,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, forthcoming.

10 Beginning in 1994, questions on nativity and U.S. citizenship

status were added to the basic monthly CPS. Respondents are asked to

name their country of birth. Those who said that they were born in

the United States, Puerto Rico, or another U.S. territory, or that they

were born abroad of an American parent, or parents, are classified as

U.S. natives. Individuals who provided another response were classified as foreign-born.

11 Although contingent workers were found in all industries, they

were disproportionately concentrated in construction and services. In

1999, more than half of all contingent workers were employed in

services, and an additional 8 percent were employed in construction.

These proportions are similar to those found in prior surveys. As the

contingency rates show, however, the vast majority (93 percent in

services and 95 percent in construction) of workers in both industries

were not holding contingent jobs.

12 For more information on the use of contingent work in

postsecondary education, see Kathleen Barker, “Toiling for PieceRates and Accumulating Deficits: Contingent Work in Higher Education,” in Kathleen Barker and Kathleen Christensen, eds., Contingent

Work: American Employment Relations in Transition, pp 195–220,

(Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 1998).

13 For instance, in February 1999, more than half of the 1.2 million

temporary help agency workers were contingent under estimate 3. An

overview of workers in alternative employment arrangements is provided by Marisa DiNatale in “Characteristics of and preference for

alternative work arrangements, 1999,” this issue, pp. 28–49.

14 See Kathleen Christensen, “Countervailing Human Resource

Trends in Family-Sensitive Firms,” in Barker and Christensen, eds.,

Contingent Work, pp. 103-25.

15 The proportion of workers covered by a union contract is a

broader measure of unionization and includes individuals who report

no union affiliation, but whose jobs are covered by a union or employee association contract.

16 The four census regions of the United States are Northeast,

South, Midwest, and West. Within the Northeast, the New England

division includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; and the Middle Atlantic division

includes New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Within the South,

the South Atlantic division includes Delaware, District of Columbia,

Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia,

and West Virginia; the East South Central division includes Alabama,

Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee; and the West South Central

division includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Within

the Midwest, the East North Central division includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin; the West North Central division
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 25

includes Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Within the West, the Mountain division

includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico,

Utah, and Wyoming; the Pacific division includes Alaska, California,

Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.

17 See Susan N. Houseman and Anne E. Polivka, "The Implications

of Flexible Staffing Arrangements for Job Security," in David

Neumark, ed., On the Job: Is Long-Term Employment a Thing of the

Past? (New York, Russell Sage Foundation, forthcoming).

18 In the survey, information concerning preferences for a contingent or noncontingent employment arrangement was collected

separately from the reasons for holding a contingent job. Therefore, a contingent worker could prefer a noncontingent job but

still give a personal reason for being in a contingent work arrangement.

19 For further discussion of job search among the employed, see

Joseph R. Meisenheimer and Randy Ilg, “Looking for a ‘better’ job:

job-search activity of the employed, Monthly Labor Review, September 2000, pp. 3–14; and, also, Peter Kuhn and Mikal Skuterud, “Job

search methods: Internet versus traditional,” Monthly Labor Review,

October 2000, pp. 3–11.

20 In the survey, respondents were asked, “Do you have health

insurance from any source?” If the response was “yes,” they were

then asked if their insurance was provided by their employer. Those

who did not receive health insurance from their employer were asked

for the source of their health insurance; in addition, they were asked

if they were eligible for employer-provided health insurance. Respondents who said “no” to the initial question were asked, “Does

(employer’s name) offer a health insurance plan to any of its employees?” If the answer to that question was “yes,” the respondent was

then asked, “Are you included in this plan?” If the response was “no,”

the respondent was asked, “Why not?” The answer to this question

was used to determine whether or not the respondent was eligible to

receive insurance from his or her employer. For further discussion on

the prevalence of health insurance (and pension) coverage among

contingent workers, see Contingent Workers: Incomes and Benefits

Lag Behind Those of the Rest of the Workforce (Washington, D.C.,

U.S. General Accounting Office, June 2000).

21 In the survey, respondents were asked, “Does (employer’s name)

offer a pension or retirement plan to any of its employees?” If they

answered “yes,” they were then asked, “Are you included in this

plan?” If the response was “no,” respondents were then asked, “Why

not?” The response to this last question was used to determine eligibility for those not in the plan.

22 In 1999, the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans of the U.S. Department of Labor's Pension and

Welfare Benefits Administration studied the issue of pension coverage and contingent work. For more information, see Report of the

Working Group on the Benefit Implications of the Growth of a Contingent Workforce, Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension

Benefit Plans, U.S. Department of Labor, November 1999, on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/dol/pwba/public/adcoun/contrpt.htm

(visited Feb. 21, 2001).

Appendix: Concepts and definitions

The data presented in this article were collected through a

supplement to the February 1999 Current Population Survey

(CPS), a monthly survey of about 50,000 households that provides the basic data on employment and unemployment for

the Nation. This supplement obtained information from workers on whether they held contingent jobs, basically, jobs that

were expected to last only a limited period of time. In addition, information was collected on several alternative

employment arrangements, namely, working as independent

contractors or being "on call," as well as working through

temporary help agencies and contract firms. Characteristics

of workers in alternative employment arrangements are discussed on pp. 28–49.

All employed persons, except unpaid family workers, were

included in the supplement. For persons holding more than

one job, the questions referred to the characteristics of

their main job—the job in which they worked the most

hours. A similar survey was conducted in February 1995

and February 1997. (The survey was conducted again in

February 2001, and the results are scheduled to be released

later this year.)

The contingent workforce

Contingent workers were defined as those who do not have

an explicit or implicit contract for long-term employment. Several pieces of information were collected in the supplement

from which the existence of a contingent employment arrangement could be discerned. These include: whether the job was

temporary or not expected to continue, how long the worker

expected to be able to hold the job, and how long the worker

had held the job. For workers who had a job with an intermediary, such as a temporary help agency or contract company, information was collected about their employment

at the place they were assigned to work by the intermediary, as well as their employment with the intermediary itself.

The key factor used to determine if a worker’s job fit the

conceptual definition of contingent was whether the job was

temporary or not expected to continue. The first questions of

the supplement were:

1. Some people are in temporary jobs that last only for

a limited time or until the completion of a project. Is

your job temporary?

2. Provided the economy does not change and your

job performance is adequate, can you continue to work

for your current employer as long as you wish?

Respondents who answered “yes” to the first question,

or “no” to the second, were then asked a series of questions

to distinguish persons who were in temporary jobs from
26 Monthly Labor Review March 2001

Contingent Work

those who, for personal reasons, were temporarily holding

jobs that offered the opportunity of ongoing employment.

For example, students holding part-time jobs in fast-food restaurants while in school might view those jobs as temporary

if they intend to leave them at the end of the school year. The

jobs themselves, however, would be filled by other workers

once the students leave.

Jobs were defined as being short term or temporary if the

person was working only until the completion of a specific

project, temporarily replacing another worker, being hired for

a fixed time period, filling a seasonal job that is available only

during certain times of the year, or if other business conditions dictated that the job was short term.

Workers also were asked how long they expected to stay

in their current job and how long they had been with their

current employer. The rationale for asking how long an individual expects to remain in his or her current job was that

being able to hold a job for a year or more could be taken as

evidence of at least an implicit contract for ongoing employment. In other words, the employer’s need for the worker’s

services is not likely to evaporate tomorrow. By the same

token, the information on how long a worker has been with

the employer shows whether a job has been ongoing. Having remained with an employer for more than a year may be

taken as evidence that, at least in the past, there was an

explicit or implicit contract for continuing employment.

To assess the impact of altering some of the defining

factors on the estimated size of the contingent workforce,

three measures of contingent employment were developed,

as follows:

Estimate 1. The narrowest definition, estimate 1, defines

contingent workers as wage and salary workers who indicated that they expected to work in their current job for 1 year

or less and who had worked for their current employer for 1

year or less. Self-employed workers, both incorporated and

unincorporated, and independent contractors are excluded

from the count of contingent workers under estimate 1; the

rationale was that people who work for themselves, by definition, have ongoing employment arrangements, although

they may face financial risks. Individuals who worked for

temporary help agencies or contract companies are considered contingent under estimate 1 only if they expect their

employment arrangement with the temporary help or contract company to last for 1 year or less and they had worked

for that company for 1 year or less.

Estimate 2. This measure expands the definitions of contingent workers by including the self-employed (incorporated

and the unincorporated) and independent contractors who

expect to be, and had been, in such employment arrangements for 1 year or less. (The questions asked of the selfemployed are different from those asked of wage and salary

workers.) In addition, temporary help and contract company

workers are classified as contingent under estimate 2 if they

had worked and expected to work for the customers to whom

they were assigned for 1 year or less. For example, a “temp”

secretary who is sent to a different customer each week but

has worked for the same temporary help firm for more than 1

year and expects to be able to continue with that firm indefinitely is contingent under estimate 2, but not under estimate

1. In contrast, a “temp” who is assigned to a single client for

more than a year is not counted as contingent under either

estimate.

Estimate 3. The third definition expands the concept of contingency by removing the 1-year requirement both on expected duration of the job and current tenure for wage and

salary workers. Thus, the estimate effectively includes all the

wage and salary workers who do not expect their employment to last, except for those who, for personal reasons, expect to leave jobs that they would otherwise be able to keep.

Thus, a worker who had held a job for 5 years could be considered contingent if he or she now viewed the job as temporary. These conditions on expected and current tenure are

not relaxed for the self-employed and independent contractors, because they were asked a different set of questions

from wage and salary workers.

Alternative employment arrangements

To provide estimates of the number of workers in alternative

employment arrangements, the February 1999 CPS supplement

included questions about whether individuals were paid by a

temporary help agency or contract company, or whether they

were on-call workers or independent contractors. Definitions

of each category, as well as the main questions used to identify workers in each category, follow.

Independent contractors. Workers who were identified as

independent contractors, consultants, and freelance workers in the supplement, regardless of whether they were identified as wage and salary workers or self-employed in the

responses to basic CPS labor force status questions. Workers

identified as self-employed (incorporated and unincorporated) in the basic CPS were asked, “Are you self-employed as

an independent contractor, independent consultant, or something else (such as a shop or restaurant owner)?” in order to

distinguish those who consider themselves to be independent contractors, consultants, or freelance workers from those

who were business operators such as shop owners or restaurateurs. Those identified as wage and salary workers in
Monthly Labor Review March 2001 27

the basic CPS were asked, “Last week, were you working as an

independent contractor, an independent consultant, or a

freelance worker? That is, someone who obtains customers on their own to provide a product or service.” About

88 percent of independent contractors were identified as selfemployed in the main questionnaire, while 12 percent were

identified as wage and salary workers. Conversely, about

half of the self-employed were identified as independent

contractors.

On-call workers. These are persons who are called into work

only when they are needed. This category includes workers

who answered affirmatively to the question, “Some people

are in a pool of workers who are ONLY called to work as

needed, although they can be scheduled to work for several

days or weeks in a row, for example, substitute teachers and

construction workers supplied by a union hiring hall. These

people are sometimes referred to as ON-CALL workers. Were

you an ON-CALL worker last week?” Persons with regularly

scheduled work which might include periods of being “on

call” to perform work at unusual hours, such as medical residents, were not included in this category.

Temporary help agency workers. These are workers who

were paid by a temporary help agency. To the extent that

permanent staff of temporary help agencies indicate that they

are paid by their agencies, the estimate of the number of

workers whose employment was mediated by temporary help

agencies is overstated. This category includes workers who

said their job was temporary and answered affirmatively to

the question, “Are you paid by a temporary help agency?”

Also included are workers who said their job was not temporary and answered affirmatively to the question, “Even

though you told me your job was not temporary, are you paid

by a temporary help agency?”

Workers provided by contract firms. These are individuals

identified as working for a contract company, and who usually work for only one customer and usually work at the

customer’s worksite. The last two requirements were imposed

to focus on workers whose employment appeared to be very

closely tied to the firm for which they are performing the

work, rather than include all workers employed by firms that

provide services. This category included workers who answered affirmatively to the question, “Some companies provide employees or their services to others under contract. A

few examples of services that can be contracted out include

security, landscaping, or computer programming. Did you

work for a company that contracts out you or your services

last week?” These workers also had to respond negatively to

the question, “Are you usually assigned to more than one

customer?” In addition, these workers had to respond affirmatively to the question, “Do you usually work at the

customer’s worksite?”