At-Home Workers and Home-Based Business Owners in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts: A Demographic and Economic Analysis
Abstract
During the past several years, economists and other researchers have speculated about the rise in alternative work situations and the expansion of home-based work. Data from the 2000 U.S. Census indicate that more than 12 million Americans (10 percent of the workforce) reported earning some form of self-employment income (as opposed to traditional wage and salary income), totaling more than $350 billion. In 2001, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that approximately nine million Americans had a formal arrangement with their employers to be compensated for work done from home or considered themselves self-employed. Not insignificantly, here in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, 9.9 percent of the region's workers reported in 2000 that they were self employed.