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« Previous Entry | Main | Next Entry » Freelancers Lack Safety Net When Jobs Are Scarce
Editor's note: Tonight on the NewsHour, Paul explores the changing nature of work in a tough economy: Companies may be shedding jobs left and right, but they are increasingly looking for short-term employees to provide work they still need to complete. Enter the freelancer. By some accounts, a third of the U.S. workforce does some form of freelancing work. But even as the flexibility of freelancing is becoming more attractive to many employers and employees alike, little security exists for such workers. Sara Horowitz, a former labor attorney in New York, founded the Freelancers Union more than a decade ago to provide freelancers with a social safety: offering health, dental, life, and disability insurance and a 401 retirement plan, as well as networking and advocacy to make the law more freelancer-friendly. The union has grown to 125,000 members nationwide, with 75,000 in New York alone. In a special Business Desk video exclusive, Horowitz explains why more employers and employees are going the freelancer route, and how the law has lagged in its protections for this growing class of workers. -- Posted November 6, 2009 | Comments (7) | Permalink
 TrackBacksListed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Freelancers Lack Safety Net When Jobs Are Scarce. TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/mt4/mt-tb.cgi/1764 7 CommentsLeave a comment |
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My husband needs this insurance BADLY! How do we get more information?
How do I contact Melanie Hammer featured in the segment?
As a freelancer myself, I was astonished to hear that we now make up 1/3 of today's workforce. Before our laws can be updated, i wonder if we need a new or more clarified vision as a nation of the kind of work life we want.
I recently purchased health insurance from the Freelancers Union. I have previously not had health insurance since February 2007. My plan started Oct. 1, 2009. I made an appointment to have my eyes examined on October 2, 2009 with an in-network provider. The Davis plan said I was entitled to one pair of glasses every two years. On Thursday I was notified that I have a pre-existing condition because I already wear eyeglasses.
I watched your show to see if you actually asked people about their experience with this insurance. I have a bill for $620 for having had an eye exam and receiving new glasses. I already paid $110 as a co-payment at an in-network service provider. I selected Davis vision frames from their "collection." I read the whole plan very carefully. Nowhere does it say that eye-glasses are a pre-existing condition and a basis for denying care.
Now I am afraid to go for a flu shot since I have previously had the flu.
Interesting piece, but the people in your story all looked under 40. I'm approaching 50 and have been surviving more than 26 years since the last great recession wiped out all the jobs in Oklahoma in 1982. It's not getting any easier out here...
Mr. Solman.
During your excellent report on Freelancers, Sara Horowitz stated that "one-third of the workforce" is now in the freelance category. She cited the GAO as her source. You expressed surprise, and frankly the number also jumped out for me.
My question: Can you confirm the accuracy of her statement? Is it possible to see the GAO report? That statement is such a landscape-changer. While I do admire Ms. Horowitz's work as you describe it, I just want to be sure of the accuracy of that "one-third" and any related and relevant facts.
Thanks very much. And thanks for your ongoing work on this beat.
Freelancers Union just raised their rates significantly. A family will have $36,000 deductible! That's right. How is that even considered insurance?