Contingent and alternative work arrangements, defined (ABSTRACT), Monthly Labor Review Online, Oct. 1996

Contingent and alternative work arrangements, defined

Anne E. Polivka
Research Economist, Office of Employment Research and Program Development, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Contingent workers have no explicit or implicit contract for a long-term employment arrangement; depending on how they are measured, as many as 6 million workers were "contingent" in February 1995. This article discusses the definitions of contingent workers and alternative work arrangements used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to analyze data from a special supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), and presents aggregate estimates of the number of workers in each group thus identified.

Read excerpt Download full text in PDF (92K)

Related BLS programs
Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

Related Monthly Labor Review articles
Flexible labor: restructuring the American work force. August 1997.
A profile of contingent workers. October 1996.
Earnings and benefits of contingent and noncontingent workers. October 1996.

Earnings and benefits of workers in alternative work arrangements. October 1996.

Entry into and consequences of nonstandard work arrangements. October 1996.

Into contingent and alternative employment: by choice? October 1996.

Workers in alternative employment arrangements. October 1996.

Within Monthly Labor Review Online:
Welcome | Current Issue | Index | Subscribe | Archives

Exit Monthly Labor Review Online:
BLS Home | Publications & Research Papers