Older Drivers Hit the Road for Uber and Lyft: How retirees are augmenting retirement income

New York Times ^ | 01/24/2016 | By ELIZABETH OLSON

[SeekAndFind]

When Carol Sue Johnson, 73, wheels her silver Mazda S.U.V. out of her driveway in suburban Minneapolis, she doesn't know how much money she will make driving for the ride-hailing service Uber, but she's sure she will have an adventure.

Her passengers run the gamut, she said, from three visiting Chinese business executives who were surprised to see a female driver, to teenagers needing a ride to hockey practices or games.

When one group of teenagers "started to get too rowdy," said Ms. Johnson, who goes by Sue, "one of them told the others to stop because 'Grandma's in the car.'"

Ms. Johnson is among a growing number of older Americans who are driving for Uber or its competitor Lyft to augment their retirement income. Some drivers say it is a great chance to be independent and earn extra cash on their own schedule. But others, including some drivers, say it is exploitation of older people who work as independent contractors, without any benefits, because their age means they have a harder time finding full-time employment.

Many retirees, like Ms. Johnson, drive part time, about 20 to 30 hours a week; others may drive full time, which in many ways takes them out of the fully retired category.

Drivers are in such demand that last July Uber and Life Reimagined, a subsidiary of AARP, the organization for people over 50, formed a partnership to recruit more people as drivers.

[NYer]

Any plans to register with Uber?

[GreyFriar]

Don’t know if I’ll do it. Or if uber reaches into the cornfields of Indiana. 38f in DC this morning — and the Federal government is closed.