On Sunday afternoon, food delivery rider Jim Adams, 18, (20) . He'd been struck by a car while riding his bike. Despite his injury, Jim was most concerned about how he would support himself while unable to work. Jim, like many young adults, is a gig worker and was delivering an order when the accident happened.

A ‘gig’ is a paid piece of work that people do, especially (21) . Unlike regular employees, gig workers do not have benefits such as paid sick leave* and a minimum wage*. They have no job security, so their workload, and therefore their pay, is unpredictable. This makes budgeting impossible and means that gig workers can be exploited - when there are bills to pay, any job for any fee will do.

(22) , but it’s estimated that almost 25 percent of American workers are now employed in the gig economy and this is expected to rise. It's difficult to wrap your head around such a statistic. So what’s the attraction? Well, there are plenty of people like Jim - a university student - whose circumstances don't allow them to work normal hours. They're not happy about their lack of rights, but they have no choice but to do this kind of job. Equally, there are students who choose gig work because of the freedom it gives them to make their own decisions about when to wake up, when to work and flow much work to take on. (23).

So is gig work worth it for young people? Well, it's convenient for students trying to balance work and study. It also helps to develop self-discipline* and a work ethic (24) . But there's a danger that, over time, the gig economy will normalize casual work and employment benefits will then become a thing of the past. And if you're injured on the job, like Jim was, bad luck ... help won’t be at hand. You'll be on your own.