Neighbor.com Survey Finds ~70% of Recent Grads Turn to Gig Work to Cover Bills

Neighbor.com, the peer-to-peer self-storage marketplace, surveyed 1,000 college students and recent graduates about the current job landscape, as well as their saving and spending behaviors, in the Students and Grads Money Report, according to a recent press release. The survey found that most students and graduates are optimistic about their future opportunities, but are still having a hard time finding good jobs with wages high enough to cover all their bills.

The study uncovered that 46% of recent grads spend 75% of their paycheck on bills. That means recent grads need a side hustle to help supplement their entry-level salary. Nearly 70% of respondents are doing some type of gig work to earn more money outside of their 9-5 jobs, while 1 in 3 relies on gig work as the main source of income.

“People are struggling to pay their bills and are always looking for ways to make more. Most of them are turning to gig-type jobs to supplement their 9-to-5 income. This illustrates one of the core reasons we started Neighbor—to help people make a passive income,” said Joseph Woodbury, co-founder and CEO of Neighbor. “There are an estimated 33.6 million spare bedrooms throughout the U.S., meaning a lot of people can take advantage of the storage gig and turn their unused space into cash.”

Additional findings from the report:

• No Savings—Nearly 50% of college students either don’t have a savings account or have one but have no money in it.
• Tracking Finances—30% of college students use a budgeting app to manage where their money goes.
• No Credit Cards—59% of college students either don’t have a credit card at all or have one that they use only for emergencies.
• Parental Support—73% of college students say they’ve received financial help from their parents.
• Discretionary Spending— More than 50% of extra cash is spent on clothing and accessories.