RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Practical Applications of Shoring Up Shortfalls: Women, Retirement, and the Growing GigSupp Economy JF Practical Applications FD Institutional Investor Journals SP pa.2021.pa469 DO 10.3905/pa.2021.pa469 A1 Caroline Lewis Bruckner A1 Jonathan Barry Forman YR 2021 UL https://pm-research.com/content/early/2021/11/30/pa.2021.pa469.abstract AB In Shoring Up Shortfalls: Women, Retirement, and the Growing GigSupp Economy, from the Summer 2021 issue of The Journal of Retirement, authors Caroline Lewis Bruckner (of American University in Washington, DC) and Jonathan Barry Forman (of Oklahoma College of Law in Norman, OK) explored the growth of gig work that people do to supplement their regular income (GigSupp work). Smartphone apps like Uber and DoorDash have driven the rise of online gig work, but most gig workers do traditional odd jobs offline. Most GigSupp workers are women, and there is little research on them—so the authors focused on the effects of GigSupp work on women’s retirement prospects.They found that many GigSupp workers underreport their income to the IRS and thus undermine their Social Security retirement income potential. This is because current tax laws do not require payors to report many types of payments they make to gig workers. Gig workers also have lower rates of saving for retirement. This is problematic for women gig workers, who are less likely to have full-time jobs and tend to have lower financial literacy. The authors recommended policy changes to improve tax reporting, allow tax withholding from gig worker pay, expand Social Security benefits, and provide financial literacy education.