Entry Motivations Shape Preferences for Social Protection Among Platform Workers

This study examines platform workers’ preferences for sick pay and paid annual leave, distinguishing between workers who entered platform work under economic pressure (the “pushed”) and those attracted by its flexibility and other advantages (the “pulled”). Using a discrete-choice experiment with 777 taxi, delivery, and cleaning workers in Germany, Italy, and Poland, we estimate an average willingness to forgo 3.7% of earnings for sick pay and 4.6% for paid annual leave. Pushed workers value both benefits more highly: 5.3% for sick pay and 5.6% for paid annual leave, compared with 3.1% and 4.2% among pulled workers. The gap is concentrated among workers who lack access to these benefits, suggesting that missing protection matters most for workers who entered platform work with fewer alternatives. The findings call for regulatory approaches that account for differences in workers’ motivations and current coverage.