How Gig Workers in India and the U.S. Manage Life Between Paychecks

Gig workers in India and the United States face a paradox of flexibility and financial strain. They enjoy the freedom of choosing gigs and schedules, but that often comes with irregular income. Therefore, day-to-day budgeting is a constant challenge.

Regular bills like rent, groceries, or fuel don't wait, yet gig workers' paychecks aren't always consistent. Many find themselves living from one payment to the next, and surveys show that roughly 6/10 U.S. gig workers say the money they earned in the past year was essential for meeting basic needs. It's the same in India: many people depend on gig work as their main source of income, so even a small income break can cause serious problems.

Gig work has grown rapidly in both regions, but it looks different in each. In India, the number of gig workers in the country was about 7.7 million in 2020–2021 and is expected to rise to around 23.5 million by 2029–2030. These people — taxi app drivers, delivery workers, and freelancers — are now helping drive an industry valued at hundreds of billions of dollars.

In the U.S., the size of the gig workforce depends on how it is defined. Official statistics show that about 7.4% of workers are independent contractors in contingent jobs, meaning they don't have a traditional employer. Still, other surveys show that significantly more people have done gig work at least occasionally.

Yet, the money freelancing brings is still very unstable. Earnings can jump or drop with seasons, demand, or app algorithms, so workers often have a lucrative month followed by a very slow one. This makes life between paychecks hard to manage. Most people have little savings: about 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and those with uneven pay are at higher risk. In India, many people also live day to day, spending most on basic needs and work costs. In one month, over 15% of local gig workers had a ₹5,000 gap between their earnings and their spending.

When income is unstable, and bills keep coming, people have only two choices: cut their spending or find extra money from outside. For many workers, that extra money means taking short-term loans to cover the difference between what they earn and what they must pay this month. Microloans — small, short-term products often offered by lending apps — act as financial lifelines to cover some needs. They might be just a few thousand rupees, but that can be enough to repair a bike, pay a medical bill, or keep the lights on when work has been slow.

India has a vast microfinance ecosystem; government-backed schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) have disbursed over 52 crore (520 million) microloans since 2015 to small entrepreneurs and workers. Many have benefited from such programs, which don't require collateral and aim to include those without a formal credit history.

Indian fintech companies make EWA (earned wage access) and small bridge loans easy to use. After a worker signs up and the app can see their work history, they can use a small credit line repeatedly. Their growing use shows how important they are: when banks and formal products do not work, people turn to anything that helps, including borrowing from relatives and coworkers. Microloans and EWA aim to fill this gap in a wiser way.

On the other side of the world, U.S. workers face their version of the income gap. When bills are due, and the bank account is empty, a common fallback has been payday loans — safe and quick loan options for gig workers in the U.S. These are short-term cash advances, typically a few hundred dollars, that are meant to be paid back when the borrower receives their next salary. These loans are easy to obtain and provide almost instant cash. However, they can carry very high APRs and must be used responsibly.

Some credit unions and community banks also offer small-dollar loans with more reasonable interest rates to compete with payday lenders. A wave of fintech apps now targets workers with irregular salaries, providing what are essentially paycheck advances in more consumer-friendly forms. Uber and Lyft drivers can use “instant pay” features to withdraw earnings immediately rather than weekly, sometimes for a small fee per transfer. Companies like Earnin, Dave, and PayActiv allow users to take a portion of their earned income before payday by monitoring work hours or gig receipts.

Both in the U.S. and in India, policies and company practices are slowly adapting to how gig workers handle money. Some big employers now offer earned wage access to hourly staff, and in some cases to contractors, so that they can get part of their pay early. There is also a greater focus on education and tools, such as savings programs that automatically set aside money in good months to help cover lean times. Despite different financial cultures, gig workers in both countries share many common strategies for coping with income gaps.

When income doesn’t come on a fixed schedule, but bills never stop, people have to fill the gaps any way they can. They borrow, use advances, try to save, and juggle their spending. Each choice has a price. As the gig sector of the economy grows in India and the U.S., more services are likely to emerge that better reflect how gig work actually functions. The aim is the same: give freelancers more stability, so life between paychecks feels less stressful.