“Sharing economy” or on-demand service economy?

A survey of workers and consumers in the Greater Toronto Area Executive summary In the span of just a few years, the term “sharing economy” has become entrenched in the public discourse. [...] These results support a call for strong regulations — and not just for Uber and Airbnb, given the broad span of companies and services operating in the GTA — to ensure that this newly developing part of the GTA’s service sector is harnessed in the interests of consumers, workers, and the broader public. [...] Given the precarious nature of the work, it is important to understand the demographic make up of the on-demand service workforce along the lines of gender, race, age, education, and immigrant status. [...] The majority of respondents, more than 70 per cent, who say they worked in the “sharing economy” are under the age of 45: 32 per cent are 18–29 years of age, 39 per cent are between 30 and 44. [...] Car ride/sharing services are, by far, the most often used — a little more than half of the 38 per cent of respondents who have purchased on-demand Q. In the last few years, which of the following types of “sharing economy” services have you personally bought (i.e.