The gig economy has been a hotly debated topic for years now, with companies like Uber, Deliveroo and TaskRabbit offering flexible work to hundreds of thousands of people. Indeed, one recent survey suggests that approximately 750,000 adults in the UK currently work in the gig economy.

However, a recent study by the University of Bristol has shown that many of these workers are earning below the UK's minimum wage.

The study - which was based on a survey of over 510 UK workers that span the diversity of the gig economy - found that over half of them (52%) were earning less than the minimum wage of £8.97 per hour - a figure below the UK minimum wage at the time of the research (£9.50) - and which rose to £10.42 in April.  This is particularly concerning given that the majority of these workers are classified as self-employed and therefore not entitled to the same protections as traditional employees.

The researchers also found that gig economy workers were more likely to experience financial insecurity than those in traditional employment. Many workers have irregular incomes and a major factor contributing to low pay rates is that the work entails spending significant amounts of time waiting or looking for work while logged on to a platform. Not only is the work low paid but it is also extremely insecure and risky.

Whilst only around a third of the survey respondents earned 90% or more of their total earnings from the gig economy - or worked at least 37.5 hours a week on platforms – it found that the median respondent spends 28 hours a week undertaking gig work and this work constitutes 60% of their total earnings.

The study has sparked renewed calls for greater protections for gig economy workers, including a minimum wage floor and stronger employment rights.

The Gig Rights Project asked the workers themselves what policy interventions would have the biggest impact on the quality of their working lives and nearly all respondents selected at least one of five core employment rights as having the most immediate potential for making a positive difference to their working life. Priorities were:

• The national minimum wage
• Paid holiday time
• Payment whenever logged on to the platform/app and looking for work
• Sick pay
• Protection against unfair dismissal (including platform deactivation).Top of Form

The UK government has previously introduced some measures to address these concerns, such as the Good Work Plan and the introduction of the National Living Wage. However, critics argue that these measures do not go far enough and that more needs to be done to ensure that gig economy workers are treated fairly.

The study's lead author, Professor Alex Wood, said:

"The findings highlight that working in the UK gig economy often entails low pay, anxiety and stress.

As food, fuel and housing costs keep rising, this group of workers are especially vulnerable and are in urgent need of labour protections.”