
Suburban moms are delivering groceries - hhs
https://www.npr.org/2019/05/25/722811953/why-suburban-moms-are-delivering-your-groceries
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callmeed
Anecdotally, I've noticed this here on the central coast of California. We
don't use Instacart or Uber Eats a lot, but when we do, its usually delivered
by women/moms in their 40s or 50s (as this article points out).

I will point out one thing I haven't seen mentioned yet: despite the gig
economy's downsides, doing this is probably better than getting sucked into
the pyramid schemes and MLMs which tend to prey on the same demographic.

~~~
yostrovs
I spoke to one such mom, asking her why she doesn't do Uber or Lyft instead,
and she said because kids make a mess in the car and she can't clean it every
time before taking passengers.

~~~
callmeed
I suppose that's a fair point but I've personally looked at that problem as an
opportunity.

We rented out our house on AirBnB _specifically_ so we could force ourselves
to get organized and our kids clean their rooms.

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ryanmarsh
My wife uses Shipt to order the groceries and in our neighborhood,
anecdotally, most of the Shipt shoppers are suburban moms. We usually order
our groceries about mid-day and they are delivered mid-afternoon. For a SAHM
with kids in school this works out perfect as you can get a few hours of work
in when you would otherwise be at home. Lots of women in my area (including my
wife) are SAHMs.

Secondly I think moms are a good fit for Shipt shoppers. We had a lot of
trouble in the beginning with shipt because the shoppers were young people not
used to picking out produce and staples for a family. Over time I noticed more
moms delivering our groceries and they seemed to get it right more often.
Naturally they could guess what my wife wanted when substitutions were
necessary or instructions were needed. They always ask first but sometimes you
don't have time to text them back before they're done shopping. It's nice when
they show up to the door and say "they didn't have ____, but I could see
you're making chili, so I got you ____".

~~~
marktangotango
We order through a store and inexperienced shoppers are definitely a problem,
not just produce but also picking the correct size of things ie cereal.

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merrywhether
While I love living in California for various reasons (moving here from the
East coast), I can’t help but wonder to what extent the gig economy is
papering over the stupidity that is current housing policy, postponing the
inevitable collapse until after far too many people have been consumed by
innocently adding a “side hustle” or two trying to help make ends meet.

~~~
bilbo0s
My own impression is that you likely think it's being "papered over" because
you live in California. If you lived out here in flyover country you'd
probably be able to see that for a lot of people, there has already been a
collapse of the old economic order. Things for a lot of people right now are
not all that great around where I live.

A lot of them would love to be able to deliver groceries. Even that in some
areas would be too risky though with the opioid epidemic being what it is
around here.

~~~
purplezooey
There's no papering over now. There may have been years ago. But there simply
isn't enough to go around. Between 2011-2015 SJ added 500,000 jobs and built
65,000 housing units. Not even making a dent in the demand.

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coldtea
I think the while the article paints a picture of "choice" with the
highlighted examples, there is probably a much darker reality of "suburban
moms" having fallen out of job prospects and doing those gigs to make ends
meet, akin to a minimal wage job.

In more prosperous times, suburban moms (and most people with regular gigs)
wouldn't even think about "delivering groceries"...

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oil25
The answer is in the first few paragraphs: they live beyond their means in a
high income tax state, have 3 kids and farm animals, are addicted to
consumerism - and want to participate without spending the little money they
have.

~~~
lotsofpulp
It's also funny that she thinks she's not out spending money, when she is
consuming fuel, wear and tear on the vehicle, and increasing risk of
morbidity/mortality by driving around, also leading to more sitting.

~~~
endorphone
She specifically mentions factoring in her costs, and the comment that you
cite was about the fact that she enjoys shopping but is spending other
people's money.

~~~
lotsofpulp
I did misinterpret that. Oops! However, there is no way she’s profiting
anything at $0.60 per mile reimbursement from Instacart.

~~~
krsrhe
If you already have a car, it only costs about 25cents/mile at the margin.
Half the cost is just depreciation from buying it.

~~~
hourislate
The cost is more than 25 cents/mile. There is a lot to factor in. Typically
when you are a salaried employee and use your vehicle for business, this
mileage allowance is on top of your pay. She is not earning anything other
than what Instacart pays. By the time it's all said and done, she'll be lucky
if to brake even. Maybe that's enough for her.

Here is what he IRS has determined the cost of driving is. I would imagine the
costs in CA are greater due to gasoline prices, traffic, and general cost of
living.

[https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-issues-standard-mileage-
rat...](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-issues-standard-mileage-rates-
for-2019)

 __54.5 cents per mile __The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued the
2018 optional standard mileage rates and beginning on January 1, 2018, the
standard mileage rates for the use of a car, van, pickup or panel truck will
be: 54.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (up from 53.5 cents in
2017)Dec 14, 2017

Includes gas, oil, repairs, tires, insurance, registration fees, licenses, and
depreciation (or lease payments) attributable to the portion of the total
miles driven that are business miles.

~~~
Dylan16807
> Includes gas, oil, repairs, tires, insurance, registration fees, licenses,
> and depreciation (or lease payments) attributable to the portion of the
> total miles driven that are business miles.

"Attributable to the portion" sounds like you divide it by total miles, which
is going to give you a number that's bigger than marginal cost, and possibly a
lot bigger. For some cars, doubling the miles might only increase non-fuel
costs 20%.

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return1
It occurs to me that such gigs may solve the isolation problem that people who
work at home often report

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bane
After watching this from Vice
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6eujSJ0-RU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6eujSJ0-RU)
one of my takeaways is that it can be incredibly isolating and egodestroying
to be a suburban stay-at-home parent.

What came up time and time again in the Vice video to me was that these women
were often financially okay, but life in suburbia had left them socially
isolated. The need for a social network that provided them with positive
affirmation, even one that is as fake as a pyramid scheme's drove it. Some of
the women in the video had even taken out rent on storefronts, or dedicated
large portions of their homes as showrooms or for inventory, which has massive
hidden (or not so hidden) costs associated with it.

I think this article adds some more color to the phenomenon. It describes
people who again, aren't necessarily over extended, but are living pretty
close to the line. Who don't want to give up suburban life and all the
activities they want to provide their kids + bored housemoms during the day
who can maybe make a few extra dollars putting their expensive SUVs to work
doing menial tasks for other people instead of their own family.

I would be if all the costs and earning were added up, these women would be
making less than minimum wage. Sitting around in an expensive car all day
looking for gigs that pay $.60/mi + tip is terrible income. Her cost per hour
for having the vehicle "employed" probably annihilates most of the "earnings"
anyways, but she's not thinking of the deferred costs that will come later
with higher maintenance. They describe a day as making $133 in 10 hours
($13.30/hr), but that includes the payment per delivery mile.

The real question to me is why aren't these women going to work in local
businesses? If they're satisfied working gig jobs, why not go work at a local
restaurant or as a bookkeeper or secretary at some local business? A quick
side story, my brother works lots of odd jobs. He works these jobs because at
some point those jobs, during certain conditions, offered some crazy payout
per day (think thousands of dollars per day). He thinks (and there's no
dissuading him from this) that if he can just get things lines up just right,
he can tap into a mythical gravy train where this money is the normal payout
for him. For example, he owns and stores a large snowplow and a very large
expensive truck so that when it snows in the winter, he can grab a road
clearing contract. In his mind, a few good snows and he's made his normal
income for the year. He rarely gets on those contracts and his expenses far
outweigh his earnings in terms of storage and maintenance costs on tens of
thousands of dollars worth of equipment.

However, it's these prospective earnings that absolutely dominate his
thinking, but his other earnings are so generally small.

I think it's the prospect of days like the best one described, where she made
$21.25/hr which is around $44,200 year which, if the other person in the
household is working for around $20k/yr puts them above median for the U.S.
($61,372/yr/household) which ain't terrible (I know the tech workers here are
gasping at so little!) It's just too bad that these gig workers will probably
make much less than that.

~~~
chrisseaton
You mention suburbia a lot. What do you think is different about life in
suburbia compared to a city or rural area that makes life there any more
isolating?

~~~
bane
I don't know if its any more isolating in the general sense (I have my own
anecdotes about all three kinds of places). But I think the phenomenon of
these kinds of gig jobs being predominantly (or targeting) otherwise idle
suburban house-wives is incredibly fascinating and seems to be digging at a
deeper underlying phenomenon.

~~~
chrisseaton
Maybe they're just targeting idle house-wives, and they happen to be often
located in suburbia, but the suburban part is irrelevant?

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jeffm3
"Instacart told NPR that more than 50% of people who shop for the app are
women. DoorDash said women make up more than 50% of its "dashers" in rural and
suburban areas and more than 60% in urban areas."

This ratio seems quite normal. Anyone knows how it compares to Uber/Lyft?

