Millions of Americans left farm work for factory work 150 years ago, and a similarly massive shift is happening now, according to Sara Horowitz. Currently, almost 1/3 of the work force or 42 million Americans are self-employed or working as freelancers, consultants, contractors or part-timers. They aren't covered by the worker protections designed for factory and office employees during the New Deal era. As Horowitz explains, those laws assumed that most people would work for a single large company until they retired. But, that is no longer the case. In her view, worker protection laws need to evolve, to provide a safety net for workers of the new economy.
