The lack of social security coverage for the self-employed has recently attracted significant attention in Europe. Changes in the world of work, including the rising prevalence of platform work, have led to an increasing number of self-employed workers with lower incomes. These trends, together with the COVID-19 pandemic, have shed light on the historically insufficient protection for the self-employed across the region.

In Europe, as globally, platform work remains a growing phenomenon. This article explores how recent developments in Europe affect platform workers’ rights and access to social security. In particular, it considers recent steps toward the appropriate classification of certain workers, changes in working conditions, and the extension of new rights and responsibilities.

A sizeable portion of the work force in the Americas engages in the platform economy, whether as a main or supplementary source of income. This article presents reforms and developments in the region that already have had, or that may have, an impact on the employment status and social protection of platform workers.

The growth of the gig and platform economy in recent years has created new markets for businesses and income-generating opportunities for workers, but it has also brought to the forefront issues related to social protection for platform workers. The platform economy is a diverse and complex reality, with different business models, economic sectors, forms of service provision, and types of work and worker profiles. Therefore, platform work cannot be looked at from any single viewpoint.