Who's Campaigning for Self-Employed Americans?

One thing that the presidential contenders are not discussing on the campaign trail is the changing nature of work. There was a time when you got a job, put in your 40 years and then retired with a gold watch and a pension. Those days are long gone.

Today, companies are under too much pressure to be profitable and competitive abroad, which has resulted in layoffs, downsizing, outsourcing and in the increased use of temporary employees.

Having watched the experiences of their parents and older siblings many of our country’s 70 million Gen Y employees, born between 1979 and 1994, don’t even consider tying their careers to one employer. Consequently these younger workers change jobs about every two years and are not afraid to freelance.

They are also less likely than their predecessors to receive health or retirement benefits. In our knowledge-based economy more Americans can expect to work for themselves or in partnerships.

So shouldn’t the Presidential candidates be talking about developing a safety net for the Free Agent Nation?

Ten years ago writer Daniel H. Pink introduced the concept of "Free Agent Nation" in Fast Company magazine. According to Pink, free agents a.k.a. consultants, freelancers, temps, independent consultants and solopreneurs were abandoning corporate America for self-employment.

In December 2004 the Small Business Association released the report, Self- Employed Business Rates in the United States: 1979-2003, which indicated that women, Black Americans and Latinos had the highest increases in self-employment rates.

Women often choose self-employment as a way to better balance work and family responsibilities. Other workers strike out on their own when they realize that they are not going to advance any farther in their company. Some folks make the leap simply because they want more autonomy over lives and their livelihoods.

In a good economy people willfully jump off the corporate ship while in a bad one they are frequently shoved.

Increasingly involuntary free agents are indistinguishable from traditional employees: they go to physical sites and work for a set number of hours each week.

However whether the worker is an administrative assistant, personal trainer, adjunct professor or software engineer her employer is designating her as an "independent contractor," rather than as an employee. Just like most low-wage employees, skilled free agents now have jobs that provide salaries, but no sick days, holiday pay or health insurance.

With 47 million Americans without health insurance, health care reform is a hot topic for the 2008 Presidential election. 80 percent of uninsured Americans are employed and the largest portion of them earn between $25,000 and $75,000 annually. But are any of the candidates talking about health care for citizens of the Free Agent Nation?

Since employer-based health benefits remain predominate, free agents frequently are unable to obtain health coverage—it’s either too expensive or they can’t find an insurer willing to cover them.

Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama is specific in his health care reform proposal about providing self-employed workers with insurance and the "portability" of his plan as people move from job to job.

In comparison, Sen. Clinton’s health care plan seems to be based more on the existing employer-based health care system. She talks about small businesses but not specifically about the self-employed.

In his health care plan, Republican Sen. John McCain moves away from employer-based health care by giving all citizens greater flexibility to form groups to obtain health insurance. Rather than assessing the merits of the candidates’ health care plans, these examples merely illustrate the extent that the candidates are addressing a practical issue associated with our evolving economy.

It goes without saying that states should crack down on employers who try to save money by intentionally mis-categorizing their workers as independent contractors. However closing that loophole will not bring back the millions of so-called "middle class" jobs with benefits that were lost to outsourcing, technology and obsolescence.

In the near future, a leaner and perhaps meaner United States will require that more Americans not only be responsible for obtaining their own health insurance, but also for saving for their own retirements—pensions and social security are on their last legs.

With more free agents in the workplace, politicians should be re-thinking an array of issues, including eligibility for unemployment insurance and how work histories are evaluated to determine creditworthiness. However for now it is most important that Presidential candidates articulate their ideas for a new social contract.

In this brave new world, how do they plan to protect our most vulnerable citizens--- the working poor, the sick and the elderly who may have neither the financial means nor the education to successfully navigate this rugged and more individualist terrain?

[First published on NewsOne.com]