Millennials Learning New Ways to Make Cash

Ask anyone over the age of 35 how to make some extra scratch, and likely they will tell you to try delivering pizzas or cutting lawns on the side. Something where each job is relatively simple, adds a few bucks to your bank account and can be accomplished working around your current schedule.

But, ask a Millennial, and their answer might surprise you … and it will likely involve, as at least one idea, driving for Uber or Lyft.  While drivers of all ages are getting in on that deal, a recent survey, which sampled about 1,150 ride share drivers, revealed that younger drivers are making more money than their older colleagues.

According to the survey, as reported by CNN, older drivers – those over the age of 61 – reported making the least amount of money with ride sharing, just shy of $15 per hour. The highest cohort was strictly Millennial, 18-30, and they were bringing in nearly $18 per hour offering rides.

The price gap is not in the hiring and payment plan; it has to do with other factors. One of these is availability. Younger drivers reported taking more fares during each hour on average, which, of course, leads to more money per hour. Another factor, targeted work environment. Younger drivers tended to be more savvy about when and where to make the most bang for their buck. They worked during peak hours in certain neighborhoods where they knew ridesharing was a popular option.

Late shift on the weekend proved to be peak hours for both pickup and sales. Partiers needing rides home from bars and clubs on Friday and Saturday are a lucrative group, and it’s a cohort younger people are more likely to chase.

Another difference, comfort level with technology. For many older drivers, mobile tech is a learning experience. They can – and do – learn the apps, but younger drivers have the advantage of not remembering a world in which smartphones of one sort or another didn’t exist.

But ridesharing is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the emerging economy that is dominated by Millennials. The sharing and mobile gig marketplace is exploding, with jobs across many sectors that older workers have never even heard of. Or, they know about the kind of job in general, but they never considered what it would look like in a mobile-dominant world.

This shift has some younger workers frustrated at the perceived loss of regular job stability, but it has others excited about the potential opportunities available as different new ways to make mobile money are generated. The lesson for businesses is simple: there’s a market out there looking to make some easy money if you can figure out a way to connect with it.