It’s an established fact that freelancing became more popular after the 2008 financial crash. The U.S. self-employed population reaches 15.5 million today. This doesn't take away that there are 54 million freelancers in the United States. Generation X, also known as the people who got stuck between the Baby Boomers and the Millennials, led this trend. As it was shown in a Toptal survey recently, a significant proportion of those who are new in freelancing, followed this route almost entirely for their children.
This would end the notion that people choose freelancing simply to be their own bosses. The freelance community is being increasingly overrun by family.
But what leads to this change of motivation while the freelance economy grows?
The Survey
Toptal was established in 2010 and it didn’t take them long to be listed in the ranks of the Deloitte Fast 500. It’s committed to providing freelancers who want to start their own businesses with mentorships and scholarship opportunities. They are a strongly bonded and results-driven community.
Two thousand freelancers from 165 countries took part in the 2016 Freelancer Lifestyle survey. The results were impressive. The following conclusions were mainly drawn:
• 91% of freelancers belong to Generation X
• 33% of these freelancers have kids
• 7% of people long the office environment
These results are enough to end many freelancing-related myths. But the real question is, why have such results emerged?
The End of the Traditional Career
One of the reasons that a considerable proportion of successful entrepreneurs are prioritizing their kids and freelancing, is because the traditional career doesn't support any of their needs. For Baby Boomers, it only took getting a job; thereafter, they knew they would reach retirement with a good pension, after a life of great salaries.
Common sense used to be that your career was forever. But for Generation X, there weren’t such guarantees. When people realized that what Baby Boomers enjoyed was long gone, they started changing their priorities.
Priorities are Changing
The end of the traditional career also changed what employees really want. Contrary to Baby Boomers, who were absorbed in their careers and their ascension of the corporate ladder, Generation X prioritized things differently. For example, the number of women working is steadily increasing. Whereas, with Baby Boomers, the man was expected to financially support the family.
These changes between generations resulted in encouraging people to spend more time with their children and less time struggling for their careers.
Priorities are changing, proving the development of freelancing. As the number of people who realize the advantages of spending more time with family grows, the industry will also grow exponentially. Even regular companies are expected to change their work cultures.
It’s not a Loss
There is nothing new in the vision of spending more time with your children, watching them grow, because you aren’t required to be at the office all the time. It’s just that now it has become popular and even encouraged.
It may make sense thinking that such a change requires sacrifices, but the numbers tell a different story. The Toptal survey revealed that 95% of participants stated that they felt more productive when working from home. 93% of them regarded this versatility as a blessing, rather than a curse.
A major advantage of being a freelancer is the opportunity to spare time for the sake of professional development. Freelancers are able to join their peers to benefit from mentorship opportunities.
This explains why Toptal’s global daily events have been such an astonishing success. Professionals can network and benefit from new knowledge and a social atmosphere, with no need of going to a conventional office.
Regardless of working from home, Toptalers are just as tight-knit as the standard office.
Freelancing From Home is Good for Your Children
Baby Boomers have always avoided mixing work with family. But it is now becoming more and more apparent that doing it isn’t necessarily bad. Toptal’s survey showed that almost 66% of freelancers believe that being at home for more hours offers a better deal to the kids, since they spend more time with their families. Even if this means taking a pay cut, or dealing with stricter digital security protocols.
Making it Work
This survey has shown that people are changing habits towards integrating their families into their work, instead of keeping the two apart. Although the bulk of the freelance population consists of Gen X representatives, there is a strong possibility that this trend will carry over to millennials, since they consits most of the workforce.
It’s not an easy feat and, for most freelancers, it’s an ongoing effort to make this work. If you have any suggestions towards making the combination of work from home and raising your kids more efficient, please share them in the comments.