On average, women with a side hustle add nearly £4,000 to their annual income, new research has found.
However, on average men are earning 25% more than this. The research by Superscript found that men earn an average of £5,227 a year from their side hustle compared to women’s £3,945.
Side hustles are most lucrative in London, where people add an average of £6,500 to their annual income.
The research also found that side hustles have become more popular during the coronavirus pandemic as furlough, redundancy and job uncertainty have made seek out new revenue streams.
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Unsurprisingly, young people have embraced the side hustle boom most readily. A third of side hustlers in this age group say they'd eventually like to take theirs full time.
“My path to becoming a full-time yoga teacher has very much been shaped by how I was affected by the COVID-19 lockdown," said Emma White, the owner of Root to Rise Yoga.
"I certainly never thought that a year after signing up for a yoga teacher training course, I would have taken voluntary redundancy in order to start my own yoga teaching business! I love that I can spend all of my time focussing on building and creating something that is my own, and on doing something that I love."
Overall, the research found that three in 10 side hustles were started during lockdown. This figure rises to nearly half in Northern Ireland and the North East.
Cameron Shearer, co-founder and CEO at Superscript, said in response to the research results: “The prolonged economic fallout of the pandemic continues to hit younger people the hardest. Thankfully, they are a determined and entrepreneurial generation and it’s admirable to see the ambition and resolve in those starting ambitious and exciting side hustles in order to make ends meet.
"This trend may prove to be a turning point for the future of business," Shearer added, "with so many unafraid to go it alone with their own businesses.”