Commentary: The gig economy sucked in millennials like me. Will we ever get out?

I’m 32, and I haven’t worked a “real” (full-time) job since I was 23 and finished my two-year commitment with Teach for America. Since 2013, I’ve piecemealed together part-time jobs that include private tutor, substitute teacher, fitness instructor, story time program leader and freelance writer.

For my generation, this trajectory isn’t unusual: 45% of all freelancers are millennials, and almost half of all working millennials are freelancing. Now, with a resume that reads like a 2010s economist’s cautionary tale, I’m colliding with the problems of part-time employment as a norm.

In 2013, after two years teaching seventh-grade writing, I decided to apply for master’s programs and took on of millennials). I did take the LSAT and consider following my mom’s footsteps to law school. But, in line with many of my peers , I ultimately chose to pursue my dream of being a writer. I was still on one of my parents’ health insurance thanks to Obamacare, I had saved money while living at home during my time with Teach for America, and I knew I could keep working part-time while in school full-time to get my master’s degree in creative writing.