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A lot has been said about millennials in recent years- the fact that many of us are freelancing in addition to our day jobs is only the most recent. So why do we do it? Because we have to. And, sometimes because we want to.
Most Jobs Do Not Pay A Living Wage: I’m going to define a “living wage” as one where you can afford to pay your rent, bills and other expenses and still have a bit left over for spending. Not an unreasonable expectation right? Well it is in this economy. Many millennials, and Americans in general, who freelance do have a day job but simply are not able to live off those wages alone.
We Were Told To Pursue Our Passion And We Still Want To: Do what you love- because you will fail if you don’t love what you do. One of the major lies that our generation has been told is that we can only do what we love and must love our jobs. Unfortunately, we are learning that passion doesn’t pay rent and that, in order to do what we love, we need to do it in addition to our “practical job”.
We Love The Freedom: Freelancing means setting your own hours and choosing your own projects. If I could make a living as a freelancer, I certainly would. Until then, I can freelance half of the time, which is still better then working 50-60 hours a week at a corporation which tells me what to do and when to do it.
We Grew Up Hustling: Millennials grew up with the Great Recession, as it is now called. Though to most millennials it is more akin to the time when they worried that they wouldn’t find a job out of college. We are burdened by student depth, and have no reason to believe that the job market will remain stable. Why wouldn’t we want a little extra income insurance?
Published by Irina Yakubin
7 years ago 
