Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, July 2023 (ICPSR 39410)

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The Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly sample survey involving about 60,000 households that provides valuable data on (un)employment in the United States. The Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements supplement focuses on individuals whose primary jobs are temporary or expected to last only a limited period of time as well as those with alternative employment arrangements (i.e., working as independent contractors, as on-call workers, through temporary help agencies, or through contract firms). Questions were asked about the two types of employment, contingent and alternative, separately as some individuals fell into both categories, some in one but not the other, and some in neither.

This data collection includes variables related to occupation and industry, enabling data users to identify individuals working in arts- and culture-related fields. These occupations fall under categories such as leisure, hospitality, and agriculture, as well as related industries like arts, entertainment, recreation, design, sports, and media. This encompasses professions such as artists, architects, designers, actors, musicians, and writers. Jobs in some of these occupations are especially likely to be categorized as contingent or alternative, so this information is necessary to fully understand the employment experiences of those in art- and culture-related fields.

Before July 2023, data on contingent and alternative employment arrangements were collected periodically from February 1995 to May 2017. The concepts and definitions used in the supplement are detailed in the Technical Note in the BLS news release. For more information, see the FAQs on contingent and alternative employment arrangements.

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