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It situates the findings within debates about gig work, worker misclassification, AB5, and reduced workplace protections during COVID-19. The analysis quantifies prevalence, stability and mixing patterns of W2 employment versus independent contracting and characterizes engaged workers by demographics, household income, and work types.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":51,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/general/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/independent-contracting-in-california-an-analysis-of-trends-and-characteristics-using-tax-data/301112/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/independent-contracting-in-california-an-analysis-of-trends-and-characteristics-using-tax-data/301112.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Theodora","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-23","2026-09-19",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":79},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"What data does the report use to study independent contracting in California?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"The report uses fully anonymized individual tax filing data for California residents for 2014 to 2016, focusing on e-filers aged 18–80 with positive earned income.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How common is independent contracting compared with traditional W2 work in 2016?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"Traditional W2 work remains most common: 81.7% held only a W2 job. Independent contracting was the sole income source for 8.6%, and 9.7% combined independent contracting with W2 work.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What does the report find about stability when workers mix W2 work and independent contracting?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"Mixing W2 work and independent contracting shows less year-to-year stability. In 2016, 35.4% of those who mixed in 2015 moved to only a W2 job, while 7.8% moved to only independent contracting.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},301112,1789779299,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":50,"category_name":51,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":76,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":135,"language":136,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":137,"faqs":138,"seo_title":139,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":125,"read_time":40},687197207919,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/a000253d6f5f7c60be?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1779446848396160552","Independent Contracting in California:  \nAn Analysis of Trends and Characteristics Using Tax Data  \nBy Annette Bernhardt, Sarah Thomason, Chris Campos, Allen Prohofsky, Aparna Ramesh, and Jesse Rothstein  \nMarch 2022  \nContents  \nExecutive Summary ....................................................................................................................................................................3  \n1. Introduction............................................................................................................................................................................... 7  \n2. Definitions and Data ............................................................................................................................................................. 9  \n3. The Prevalence of Independent Contracting .......................................................................................................... 11  \n4. The Characteristics of Workers Engaged in Independent Contracting ...................................................... 15  \n5. The Earnings of Independent Contracting ...............................................................................................................19  \n6. Independent Contracting Among Older Workers .................................................................................................24  \n7. Types of Independent Contracting .............................................................................................................................. 28  \n8. The Firms Using 1099 Independent Contractors .................................................................................................. 36  \n9. Questions for Future Research .................................................................................................................................... 39  \nAcknowledgments.................................................................................................................................................................... 40  \nTechnical Appendix ................................................................................................................................................................. 41  \nBibliography................................................................................................................................................................................ 45  \nEnd notes....................................................................................................................................................................................... 48  \nIndependent Contracting in California: An Analysis of Trends and Characteristics Using Tax Data  \n2  \nExecutive Summary  \nIn the many discussions about the future of work in California, the topic of independent contracting holds a prominent and much debated position. The growth of on-demand labor platforms such as Uber and TaskRabbit has fueled concern that “gig” work could replace traditional jobs and result in chronic economic instability, especially in communities of color. Worker advocates have also long been concerned about the misclassification of workers as independent contractors, leading to the passage of AB5 in 2019. More recently, the exclusion of independent contractors from key workplace protections was put into sharp relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.  \nAs the economy recovers, good data on independent contracting will be vital to responding to trends in the 21st Century labor market, as well as to the ongoing task of measuring the underreporting of independent contractor income by tax authorities. In this report, we leverage recent innovations in analyzing tax data to shed new light on the prevalence and characteristics of independent contracting in California. Our research stems from a unique partnership between the California Tax Franchise Board, the California Policy Lab at UC Berkeley, and the UC Berkeley Labor C","cbCairMeX1PuSr8d","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairMeX1PuSr8d","pdf",1066083,51,"English","# Executive Summary\n## The Prevalence of Independent Contracting\n## The Characteristics of Workers Engaged in Independent Contracting","[{\"question\":\"What data does the report use to study independent contracting in California?\",\"answer\":\"The report uses fully anonymized individual tax filing data for California residents for 2014 to 2016, focusing on e-filers aged 18–80 with positive earned income.\"},{\"question\":\"How common is independent contracting compared with traditional W2 work in 2016?\",\"answer\":\"Traditional W2 work remains most common: 81.7% held only a W2 job. Independent contracting was the sole income source for 8.6%, and 9.7% combined independent contracting with W2 work.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the report find about stability when workers mix W2 work and independent contracting?\",\"answer\":\"Mixing W2 work and independent contracting shows less year-to-year stability. In 2016, 35.4% of those who mixed in 2015 moved to only a W2 job, while 7.8% moved to only independent contracting.\"}]","Independent Contracting in California - An Analysis of Trends and Characteristics Using Tax Data | PDF"]