American Workers Depend on Multiple Income Streams To Pay Bills — Which Are Most Common?
Written by
Tina Nazerian
Edited by
Amber Barkley
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Against the backdrop of an increase in the cost of living, many Americans aren’t able to stay financially afloat from their salaries alone. According to a new report by MyPerfectResume, 71% of workers need a second income stream to manage their expenses.
The catalysts behind people pursuing a second source of income, the study found, vary, with 42% indicating debt and loan repayment as the reason, 37% saying they wanted to save for “major life goals” and 35% noting that they need the additional income to pay for everyday costs.
Jasmine Escalera, a career expert at MyPerfectResume, told GOBankingRates that the survey shows a “subset of Americans who cannot just rely on their 9-to-5 for basic necessities.” There’s also a group of Americans, she said, who “might be living comfortably” but “don’t have the extras to be able to really pay for the homes, the childcare, all of these other things.”
Income Streams People Turn To
There are three major sources of secondary income, the survey found:
- 39% have a side business or do freelance work.
- 32% have a second job.
- 24% get income from investing in cryptocurrency, stocks and bonds.
The survey also found that men are more likely than women to have income from investments or a side business, and those earning a lower primary income are less likely to rely on investing than those with high income.
How To Generate Secondary Income
Are you considering picking up a secondary income source?
“If there’s some kind of unique value that you bring to the table, and you’re ready to monetize it, now is the time to strike,” Escalera said.
She noted that on platforms such as LinkedIn, you can demonstrate your talents and “introduce yourself as a potential entrepreneur.” However, she emphasized that to be able to accomplish that, think about the skills you want to monetize, who would pay you for those skills and how you can begin marketing yourself as someone who tackles relevant tasks solo.
Escalera stressed that before you start a side business, you should be transparent with your employer or manager from the get-go. Specifically, she advised touching base with HR to check for any potential conflicts.
The Toll of Pursuing a Secondary Income Stream
While generating secondary income puts more money in workers’ pockets, it can come at a cost to their performance in their main roles, as well as their physical health.
In the study, 49% of respondents indicated that “having a second source of income hurts focus and performance at their primary job.” Additionally, 21% said they had suffered a “decline in physical health due to overwork.”
Escalera said if you’re feeling the pressure from having to produce more than one source of income, self-care and requesting help and support at and outside of your job are crucial.
How To Turn Your Main Job Into Your Only Income Source
According to Escalera, if you don’t want to focus on secondary income, “make sure you’re building the skill set of self-advocacy.”
She said that you can look into upskilling, or asking for a promotion or pay raise, to boost your earning potential in your current job.
As far as getting a salary increase, Escalera recommended you “take a step back and to ask yourself, ‘OK, how can I get ready for conversations with my employer, with my manager, about pay raises?'”
To prepare, Escalera said, you can think about your “key core accomplishments.” Specifically, these are accomplishments you’ve been able to achieve in the previous few months and year that demonstrate that you’ve gone “above and beyond” at your job. She added that you can also reflect on things you’ve done at work that “really added to the company’s mission, the team’s mission, the team’s growth.”
Additionally, Escalera said, it’s just as vital to conduct research and find out what “people in your industry and in your role are traditionally getting paid. … That’s a great piece of data for you to bring into the conversation along with your accomplishments and value.”
Even if your company isn’t doing well financially, you can still ask for an increase in pay, Escalera noted.
“Asking for a raise is about owning your accomplishments and value. It also gives employees the opportunity to practice the art of self-advocacy,” she explained. “Your company may not be able to accommodate the request today, but it lays the foundation for continued discussions about your work, contributions and timing for a raise in the future.”
As for how much of a pay raise you could get, that varies depending on your unique situation — but according to professional services company WTW’s December 2024 “Salary Budget Planning Report,” employers’ “salary increase budgets are stabilizing, with 2025 planned increases projected to be 3.7% on average compared with the 3.8% average budget awarded in 2024.” However, “they remain higher than the pre-pandemic norm of 3%.”
If you’ve discussed the possibility of a pay raise or promotion with your current employer but are receiving “pushback,” Escalera said, then it’s time to “start getting ready for a job search.
“Start getting your resume together, start really thinking about who in your network you could tap into for help, for guidance, for assistance, for connections,” Escalera explained. “Unless you truly do want to launch a side business or do a side gig because you eventually want to have your own business, navigating two different income streams is challenging.”
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