WASHINGTON — A growing number of Americans are stepping away from the corporate ladder and climbing one of their own. According to the the IRS, 29 million people are self-employed nationwide, with that number increasing by half a million every year.

Katie Vlietstra, vice president for government relations and public affairs for the National Association for the Self-Employed, said often securing needs such as insurance and disability coverage is lost in the shuffle of entrepreneurship.

“You know, you have to do some research, you have to figure out how do you secure benefits for you and especially if you have a family or a spouse that receives their benefits from you,” Vlietstra said. “How do you set up your business?”

Increasingly, organizations like the NASE offer connections to life and disability insurance, as well as medical insurance for those not eligible for the marketplace.

A 2016 McKinsey Global Institute Report found that about 27 percent of working-age people in the United States and Europe engage at least partially in independent work.

According to USAA, 1 in 3 people in the United States doesn’t carry life insurance. Sean Scaturro, director of life and health insurance with USAA, said the lack of life insurance presents a problem for the entire economy.

“It’s a social issue. You’ve got a third of the country that doesn’t have adequate life insurance,” Scaturro said. “Now, that’s not to say that everybody is going to die at the same time, but you know what? People pass away every day, and unfortunately families are left under-protected every single day.”

Scaturro added that people assume life insurance costs two- to three-times what it normally does.

Vlietstra said people who are self-employed should take a minute to research costs and ways to protect themselves and their families.

“Just make sure you have the proper level of protection, legal protection, if that’s insurance to make sure that as you get started and you have assets that need to be protected,” she said. “You know, I would definitely spend the money at the beginning to talk to a lawyer.”

Experts say the growth in self-employment, also called the gig economy, is related to people working to piece together employment after the economy crashed during the recession, and also a general desire for more flexibility and work-life balance.

WASHINGTON – According to the latest numbers, the leisure and hospitality industry, which includes restaurant and retail jobs, added 62,000 jobs last month.

While many people are quick to dismiss those positions as less important or not “real” jobs, Robert Doar, a fellow in poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute, says these jobs represent an important foot in the door for millions of young people, as well as a re-entry into the workforce for those needing a second chance.

“They provide a path upwards,” he stresses. “Now, they don’t guarantee a path upwards, but they are a start and they are almost always going to lead to a better economic circumstance than not having a job at all.”

Overall, the U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July, beating expectations.

The service sector is the country’s largest private sector employer, encompassing more than 30 million jobs nationwide.

Doar, who also is a senior adviser for the Path Forward coalition, says because of its sheer size and the role it plays as a gateway to future employment, the health of the service sector is an important indicator of the overall health of the economy.

“Sometimes we get hung up on particular focus on manufacturing, or high tech, even government, or health care, but the fact of the matter with 30 million jobs in this one sector is a big part of whether our economy is moving forward or standing still,” he points out.

Attorney Broderick Johnson was the chair of the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force under President Barack Obama, and also is a senior adviser with Path Forward. He says not only do retail and restaurant jobs teach critical skills such as punctuality, reliability and consistency, they actually can play a role in strengthening communities.

“Violence-reduction strategies have to include making sure that young men of color especially have good first job opportunities, and without question the service industry is such an important part of making sure those strategies and those young people succeed,” he stresses.

Despite the rising role of e-commerce, experts say the latest numbers point to the staying power of brick-and-mortar retail businesses and the jobs tied to them.

Content provided on behalf of Path Forward Coalition . Contact: Erin Grandstaff , 202-570-0510, erin@sqcomms.com