Stride Publishes Study Revealing Financial Challenges Faced by Millions of Independent Workers

Even as independent work booms, workers are balancing the challenges of securing their own vital benefits while managing everyday expenses, income volatility, and long-term financial security.

SAN FRANCISCO, September 25, 2024 – Today, Stride Health, the category leader in portable benefits, released the report Bridging the Benefits Gap: Uncovering the Financial Goals and Challenges of Workers with Limited Benefits. The findings, which are a result of an online survey conducted on behalf of Stride Health by Mastercard, highlight the financial challenges faced by many of the over 60 million independent workers in America. Through Stride’s all-in-one Portable Benefits Platform with savings tools powered by Mastercard, independent workers can access affordable, comprehensive benefits so they and their families can thrive. Stride’s platform is also available to Mastercard customers, including card-issuers and merchants, as part of the company’s commitment to financial inclusion, helping to ensure all workers can prepare for the future, however they choose to work.

With independent workers comprising 38% of America's modern workforce, the report illustrates how gig workers, entrepreneurs, part-time workers, and multiple jobholders struggle with balancing everyday expenses, managing income volatility, taking paid time off, and building long-term financial security. The report also shows how these struggles become even more difficult for lower-earning individuals and challenges the assumption that all W-2 workers are immune from these financial complexities. 

Key insights include:

• 61% of surveyed individuals cannot always cover their monthly expenses with their job earnings  

• 26% of those surveyed are currently not saving any money, the number one barrier being insufficient income  

• 37% of surveyed individuals report holding more than one job in the past year

• Nearly one in three (31%) independent workers rarely or never take scheduled time-off  

• Lower Income workers experience even wider gaps in benefits and stability 

• Data reveals that many W-2 workers also lack employer-sponsored benefits    

"The workforce in America has evolved since the U.S. established its employer-centric benefits system in the late 1940s. With independent work booming and younger generations increasingly eager to chart their own course, it no longer makes sense to provide benefits solely through jobs. We are proud to work with Mastercard to shine light on these findings and to offer our portable benefits solution to working Americans so they don’t have to choose between flexibility and access to healthcare or long-term financial security," said Noah Lang, CEO and Cofounder of Stride. 

“Independent workers are a force multiplier for our economy and this segment will continue to grow as Millennials and Gen Z are increasingly turning to gig economy work for additional income. It's critical that they have access to cost-effective coverage and financial planning tools, like those provided by Stride Health. We're proud to partner with Stride to support independent workers and ensure greater financial stability and well-being for the next generation,” said Sherri Haymond, co-president, Global Partnerships at Mastercard.

Stride’s tools and resources help create financial safety nets so that independence doesn’t have to come at a higher cost. Stride’s Portable Benefits Platform provides independent workers access to insurance and financial tools all via a single app. This includes Stride Save, a savings account leveraging the Mastercard network that allows workers to set aside a portion of their earnings for savings, tax allocations, and to pay for benefits, and Stride Contributions, which enables company contributions to independent workers’ accounts that can be accessed via a Mastercard debit card for health insurance, emergency savings, time-off, sick leave, or long-term savings.

Through an ongoing partnership, Stride’s Portable Platform is available to Mastercard customers, including card-issuers and merchants, enabling them to provide vital access to the platform through their cardholder offerings. The initiative was launched as part of Mastercard’s commitment to financial inclusion and an important step in the company’s broader strategy to provide gig workers with a range of benefit choices. The offering marked the first-time health, dental, and vision benefits were made available via a payments network at launch.

Download the full report here. 

About the research

The survey was conducted online by Mastercard in February 2024 and included 1,981 respondents who are either full-time or part-time W-2 workers, full-time or part-time 1099 workers, or both W-2 and 1099 workers and do not receive employer-sponsored health insurance benefits.  All citations to the report herein are subject to the full text of the report. 

For more information about Stride Health visit Stridehealth.com . Or, read our blog and follow on Instagram, and LinkedIn. To become a Stride partner, click here.

About Stride

Stride simplifies the complexities of being an independent worker by creating a modern benefits system for individuals — regardless of their employment status — that they can take with them and to which companies can contribute but do not control. Stride is the first portable benefits platform specifically designed for the nearly 60 million American independent workers who do not receive employer-based benefits. The Stride platform offers access to insurance — health, dental, vision, life and other supplemental insurance — as well as financial tools to track income, mileage and other deductible expenses to manage their tax obligations, all via a single app. Since launching in 2014, Stride has helped more than 4.2 million workers save more than $7.2 billion on their taxes and monthly health insurance premiums.

Stride is partnered with over 120 organizations, including with the world's leading work platforms, employers and service providers of non-benefited workers, such as  Uber, Amazon, DoorDash, Instacart, Grubhub, Patreon, Care.com, Gusto, Gopuff, TaskRabbit, Recording Academy, ShiftKey and more so they can provide their workers with access to a full marketplace of health and wealth benefits. The company is backed by $96 million in capital from Venrock, New Enterprise Associates, F-Prime Capital, Allstate and King River.

Media Contact: 

Stride: Emily Forrest 

press@stridehealth.com