Lessons learned from the gig economy for improving public services

 In the period between 2016 and 2019, the number of people employed by online platforms like Deliveroo or TaskRabbit more than doubled, from 4.7% to 9.6%. This is the equivalent of about 5.5 million people. These trends accelerated even more after the Lockdown, as an en masse population began ordering goods online.

Many are concerned about the rise of the platform economy. Platform technology can be used to improve the delivery of public services. Platforms could be used to transform the way citizens receive services, whether they are under municipal control or in public-private partnerships.

In our study on the platform economy, my colleagues and I interviewed 28,000 people in Europe. We measured the changes in the UK between 2016 and 2019, not only among those who work for platforms but also their clients. In the UK, we counted changes between 2016 and 2019, not just among those working for platforms but also among their customers.

The profile of the customers was a big surprise. We expected to see a distribution of people with higher incomes supplying the needs of those who are poorer. Instead, we found a more uniform distribution. Although 44% of those with the highest incomes used platforms, 30% of those with a middle income and 22% of those at the lowest did as well.

Those who work for online platforms are also likely to be their customers. In 2019, 31% of people used taxi apps, and 5.2% of them worked as taxi drivers. However, 4.8% of those who were taxi users also drove taxis. In the same way, 31% of people bought online household services, and 5.5% provided them, but 4.9% did both.

Vicious cycle

People are using apps to get services they can’t do themselves. They may order a meal through Deliveroo or Uber Eats because they are too exhausted to cook themselves or pay for household chores when they don’t have time.

Online platforms can offer them work that’s both precarious, and low-paid, but leaves them with less time. Online platforms are part of a vicious circle in which money poverty chases time poverty. Austerity has made this situation worse, as people are no longer able to rely on services that they used to rely on, such as respite-care or meals delivered by car. This leads to an increase in housework.

We are time-poor, and we’re stressed. So, we use apps to get basic services. Shutterstock.com

Online platforms are often viewed as villains, denying workers basic employment rights and safety while giving little to local communities. Tax avoiders who leave infrastructure, health, and training to others. The local economy receives very little of the 20-25% of each transaction that they take. Most of the profits are lost overseas due to complex international tax schemes.

Reinventing welfare state

What if platform technology could be used in order to reverse this vicious circle? Could they be used to create new digitally-managed welfare services that would replace the shattered 21st-century welfare state? They could be key in developing new models to promote better work-life and improve working conditions of gig workers while also contributing towards the reduction of waste.

In my new book, Reinventing the Welfare State, I explore ways in which locally-controlled online platforms could be used to achieve this. In order to provide social care that is responsive to client’s needs, algorithms could be developed to connect workers to customers on short notice. This would replace the current rushed 15-minute slots. They could also be used for transporting patients to appointments at hospitals or schools and delivering fresh, nutritious meals to people in their homes.

Platform technology can also make sustainable food strategies like the one used in Bristol a reality. Local producers could also use platform technology to provide food to schools and hospitals, deliver leftover perishable foods to food banks, and encourage new food businesses. You can even share the surplus from your garden.

Platforms that are democratically controlled and responsive toward residents could provide decent jobs for workers and give citizens the services they desire at the time they want them.