The Gig Economy Breaks Social Security
Tuesday, April 12, 2016 at 8:56AM 
With the tax deadline looming in the US and the future of the gig economy as the engine of scaling startup workforces under fire, there's an important point to consider: In the gig economy the entire social contract is kaput. Here's why.
Everyone who works in the US pays into the Social Security system. The whole idea of Social Security is young people pay in and old people take out.
When you are an employee Social Security taxes are taken directly out of your paycheck. You don't even have to think about it.
When you work in the gig economy you get a 1099-MISC at the end of the year. A 1099 reports payments made by the hiring company during the year and it's sent by the hiring company both to the worker and the IRS.
It's up to the worker to identify their income on their tax return as self employment income, which is subject to a Social Security tax of 15.3%. Most gig workers probably won't declare this income because a lot of them don't even know they are supposed to. My wife, Linda Coleman, a respected Enrolled Agent, says from people she has talked to a lot of gig workers haven't even heard self employment tax. And there's only an ever decreasing budget for the IRS to try to enforce all the rules.
And even if a gig worker does know about the tax they might ask themselves why should should I pay 15.3% on my income when I'm making so little money and the company is capturing almost all the benefit?
The problem: if gig workers aren't contributing how is Social Security supposed to work? Gig workers simply won't have Social Security when they retire.
The way Social Security works is all your wages and self employment income are tracked by the Social Security Administration. If you aren't contributing then you aren't earning credits towards your account. And if you aren't earning credits you won't get much in the way of benefits. Social Security works like a big checking account. The amount you can take out is based on how much you put in (or close enough). If you aren't putting any money you can't take it out later.
The whole big picture is not being communicated well to the public. Who is benefiting? It's not the worker. It's not the government. It's not even the shareholders because no dividends are being paid.
In the gig economy the entire social contract is kaput.
Reader Comments (3)
One thing that needs to said is that if you don't pay into social security, you will get $0 from it when it's retirement age. I'm not sure of the exact rules regarding Medicare in this situation, but it may only be a Medicaid equivalent. The amount of money that you receive is based on how much has been paid in over the course of 35 years.
SSI is what someone that has not paid into SS may be eligible to receive. This is not a lot of money.
SSI
Maximum benefits in 2016
7 Myths
Never paid into Social Security
Listen, there is no way social security will be solvent by the time a younger worker retires. If younger workers don't pay in now, it will go broke sooner but youngsters are screwed. math.
"an ever decreasing budget for the IRS to try to enforce all the rules"
You want the IRS to assault people ? Why do you want aggression on other people ?
Why do you think you are better than people to decide for them ?