If you think ride-sharing and the gig economy are taking over the world, you might be living in a bubble.
New research from the Pew Research Center shows that ride-hailing and home-sharing and grocery delivery and shared office spaces remain unfamiliar phenomena to the majority of people in the U.S. despite substantial inroads among young urbanites.
For its new research, Pew polled 4,787 American adults on their usage and awareness of services that are variously called the sharing economy, the on-demand economy or the gig economy. For most Americans, this technology has not permeated their lives yet.
The only service that most Americans have used is purchasing second-hand goods online, such as the online auction site eBay. In second place, a large number of Americans — 41% — have also used programs offering same-day or expedited delivery, a service offered by the retailer Amazon.
But typically when people talk about the sharing economy or gig economy, they’re talking about platforms that allow people to rent out rooms in their homes, or use their cars to give people rides or deliver groceries. And for now, these are much less common. Only 15% of adults have used ride-hailing services, like those offered by Uber and Lyft. Only 6% have ever had their groceries delivered, and only 4% have hired someone online to perform errands and tasks.
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