“The pay is not good, but there aren’t good jobs out there anyway.”

As Americans enter month eight of the coronavirus pandemic, drivers for companies like DoorDash and Uber are bearing the burden of stay-at-home orders and a crumbling job market.

With the economy continuing to stumble, people are turning to the gig economy to stave off unemployment. Meanwhile, demand for delivery services is skyrocketing. These trends, the New York Times reports, have created a legion of independent contractors who are unprotected and vulnerable as they perform frontline work.