Today In Data: Flexibility Is The Best Policy

What consumers want mostly is choice – and they tend to prefer retailers and service providers that offer it to them. That might mean choice in payment methods in a variety of contexts, or it might mean choice in when and where they go to work or how they book their jobs – or it could be in terms of their exposure and access to emerging technology like cryptocurrency and blockchain. But the shape of things to come in consumer choice might be more impactful, allowing consumers to make new types of decisions about their health or how long into old age they can live independently.

Data:

50 million: Approximate number of Americans over the age of 65 in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau.

600: The number of utility and municipal governments served by First Billing as of its acquisition by Paya.

200+: The number of customers logged into RippleNet as of early January 2019.

37 percent: Share of gig workers who seek gigs for their flexibility.

30.9 percent: Share of gig workers between the ages of 34 and 44.