We are seeing a lot of new outlets pick up the Airbnb survey stating that 10% of their hosts work in education. Now statistically this is not too surprising since we have over 3.5 million teachers in the country but it does seem that teachers need to supplement their income more and more to make ends meet.
But the Atlantic did the best job on this new trend of teachers participating in the sharing economy. First – teachers have the right personality traits to become a host – they are more empathetic, socially adept, responsive and adaptable with a passion for sharing knowledge. Second – teacher schedules with summers off make them a good host during prime rental times. Third – they need the money.
Uber sites a similar trend for teachers – they specifically target teachers to be drivers especially during peak times on weekends and in the summer. I use Uber a lot and have had many teachers as drivers especially during the summer. They like it because they can drive when they want.
Both Airbnb and Uber are using the fact that teachers are hosts and drivers to show that they are a good thing for a community. Since many politicians are trying to limit the sharing economy through regulation, Airbnb/Uber are showing their teacher participants as great members of the community who need short term rentals as a way to buy supplies for their classrooms and support their families. They are trying to put forth a friendly face that you care about so that you don’t impose regulations on these great people.
Interesting part of the sharing economy – teachers as hosts and drivers. Not the best situation but it certainly helps right now.
According to Airbnb –
- 45,000 teacher hosts in the US
- $160 million in total earnings for teacher hosts in 2017
- $54 million in summertime earnings for teacher hosts in 2017
- $6,500 in typical annual supplemental income earned by teacher hosts
