Gig worker harassment: young women face highest risk, PLOS One study finds
By Vikram JoshiLife Balance Correspondent, Peepals Shakti
Representative image: NGuyễn_Quang_Thắng / Pixabay
A PLOS One study of over 1,000 US gig workers, published 4 November 2026, finds young women face an unusually high risk of harassment at work.
What Happened
Young women who earn a living through gig apps face an unusually high risk of harassment at work, according to a study published in the journal PLOS One on Wednesday, 4 November 2026. Researchers Julieta Aguilar of the University of Kentucky and Jeremy Reynolds of Purdue University surveyed more than 1,000 gig workers in the United States, people who find paid tasks such as delivery, driving or odd jobs through online platforms. They found that the average risk of harassment was not much higher for women than for men overall, but that young women stood out sharply, and that Black and Hispanic workers reported harassment more often than white workers across age and gender groups.
Key Facts
- Study: "Young women at risk: Harassment by gender, race, and age in the gig economy", by Aguilar and Reynolds, published in PLOS One on Wednesday, 4 November 2026.
- Sample: more than 1,000 gig workers in the United States.
- Young women: their risk of harassment was unusually high, and the gender gap narrowed among older gig workers, the authors found.
- Race: Black and Hispanic workers experienced harassment more often than white workers in every age and gender group.
- Figures given in a summary of the study: about 70% of white workers, 79% of Hispanic workers and 82% of Black workers reported harassment, and the figure for young women reached 92%.
- Online-only work: harassment was lower among people whose gigs were done entirely online.
Why It Matters
Gig work is usually described by its flexibility: workers choose when to log on and which jobs to take. This study looks at a cost that can come with that flexibility. In-person gig work typically means meeting customers one to one, without a manager or colleagues present, and the main channel for reporting a problem is the platform itself.
The finding that the overall gap between women and men is small, but that young women face much higher risk, matters for how solutions are designed. A policy aimed at "women gig workers" in general may miss the group most exposed. The researchers' result that online-only gigs carry less harassment also points to where the danger lies: in face-to-face work with customers.
For wellbeing, harassment at work is not a minor irritation. It can affect whether a person feels safe enough to keep working and which jobs they are willing to accept, which in gig work is directly linked to what they earn.
The study is from the United States, and its figures cannot be applied directly to other countries. But its questions are relevant wherever app-based delivery and ride services employ young people, including in India, and it gives platforms, regulators and workers' groups a clear group to focus on.
Peepals calculation: on the summary figures, Black workers reported harassment 12 percentage points more often than white workers (82 − 70) and Hispanic workers 9 points more (79 − 70). The 92% figure for young women is 22 points above the figure for white workers, about 31% higher (22 ÷ 70 ≈ 0.31). Our calculation from the reported figures.
| Group | Share reporting harassment (summary figures) |
|---|---|
| White workers | About 70% |
| Hispanic workers | About 79% |
| Black workers | About 82% |
| Young women | About 92% |
Impact
Short-term: The findings add to pressure on gig platforms to offer stronger safety tools, such as easy in-app reporting, the option to end a job safely and quick support when something goes wrong.
Long-term: If platforms and regulators take up the results, safety measures may be targeted at young women doing in-person gigs. Better data on who is harassed, and where, can also shape labour rules for gig workers, who often fall outside traditional workplace protections.
Who is affected: young women working through delivery, ride and task apps; Black and Hispanic gig workers in the United States; platform companies; and policymakers writing rules for gig work in the US and elsewhere.
Key Takeaway
A new US study finds that young women in the gig economy face an unusually high risk of harassment, and that in-person gig work carries more risk than work done entirely online.
Questions and Answers
What did the PLOS One gig worker harassment study find?
The study of more than 1,000 US gig workers, published on 4 November 2026, found that young women face an unusually high risk of harassment, and that Black and Hispanic workers report harassment more often than white workers in every age and gender group.
Are women gig workers in general harassed more than men?
Not by much on average, according to the authors. The large gap appears among young women; it narrows among older gig workers.
Is online gig work safer?
The study found lower harassment among people who did their gig work entirely online, compared with in-person gigs.
Who carried out the study?
Julieta Aguilar of the University of Kentucky and Jeremy Reynolds of Purdue University. It was published in the journal PLOS One.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Vikram Joshi, Life Balance CorrespondentCovers Life Balance and more for Peepals Shakti. All stories by Vikram Joshi
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Vikram Joshi is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
