Gig economy workers choose jobs with companies like DoorDash, Lyft and Uber because they value work flexibility.
That's according to a survey conducted by the London-based Social Market Foundation (SMF). It asked more than 9,000 active and ex-gig workers as well as employees which factors were most important in choosing their jobs. Gig workers were twice as likely to value "control over when you work" than employees were.
Some four in ten gig workers said they valued setting their own hours and working patterns, versus just two in ten employees.
Of current gig economy workers surveyed, 65 percent said "flexibility to work when, how and where I want... compared with being given set shifts" reflected their views, versus just nine percent who valued the security of traditional employment.
"Starting and finishing work when they please, earning additional income quickly, and not having to report to a boss – as positive features of the (gig) arrangement," the report said.
It added that gig workers don't, as critics contend, report they are exploited. Some 88 percent surveyed report being satisfied with their jobs, versus 82 percent of the general workforce.
"Debate among policymakers and politicians about this labour market should recognize riders and other gig workers as rational actors who are actively making an economic choice around how, when, and where to work," the survey report said. "They are economic actors like other workers... any discussion of that policy should proceed from the acceptance that riders and gig workers are economic actors, not victims."
The report's conclusions ring consistent with U.S. trends, where women have increasingly embraced gig economy jobs, citing"flexibility, autonomy, and higher wages."
An ABC report this month profiled mothers who left part-time work to join Instacart, citing the chance to spend more time with their children.
"If I was working in an office, corporate-style job, I would be paying for daycare and I wouldn't have been able to afford it," said Kara Moore of Delta, Pennsylvania. "Now I'm home every night with my daughters. I'm able to take them to sports and be home with them for homework. I can take off if my kids are sick."
The SMF survey was authored by its Chief Economist Aveek Bhattacharya and Jake Shepherd.
Bhattacharya previously worked as a senior policy analyst at the Institute of Alcohol Studies; he has master's degrees in politics from the University of Oxford and in social policy research from London School of Economics. He also holds a PhD in Social Policy from
Founded in 1989, the Social Market Foundation describes itself as a "non partisan public policy think tank."
"We conduct research and run events looking at a wide range of economic and social policy areas, focusing on economic prosperity, public services and consumer markets," the group's web site says.
SMF's Chair of Trustees is Wendy Thomson, who led the UK Office of Public Service Reform under Prime Minister Tony Blair.