Side Hustles for Students, Parents, 9-to-5 Workers and Retirees
The best side hustle for you depends less on the idea and more on your life: when you're free, what you already know, and what you can't give up. Here's what tends to fit five common situations.
Students
Your advantages: flexible timetables, long breaks, recent knowledge of school subjects, and often a university nearby.
- Tutoring younger students in subjects you're good at.
- Research studies, especially through your own university, which often recruits student participants.
- Campus and event work during busy periods.
- Selling textbooks and things you no longer need at the end of each term.
Check first: most survey, gig and freelance platforms require you to be 18 or over, and some student visas limit how much paid work you can do.
Parents at home
Your advantages: short gaps throughout the day, such as nap times and school hours, and often a network of other parents.
- Surveys and small online tasks that you can stop the moment you're needed.
- Selling outgrown clothes and toys, which has a steady market.
- Pet sitting at home for neighbours, where rules allow.
- Freelance work from a previous career, in small, flexible amounts.
Check first: anything involving looking after other people's children may need registration or checks where you live.
People with a 9-to-5 job
Your advantages: professional skills, predictable free evenings and weekends, and a steady income, so you can be choosy.
- Freelancing with your work skill, which usually pays best per hour.
- Weekend delivery or driving shifts.
- Tutoring or coaching in the evenings.
- Surveys and studies on the commute.
Check first: your employment contract. Some limit outside work, especially for competitors or using company equipment.
Retirees
Your advantages: time during the week, a lifetime of experience, and often a wide local network.
- Consulting or mentoring in your former field.
- Tutoring and teaching a skill or a hobby.
- Pet sitting and house sitting, which reward reliability.
- Surveys and research studies, where older age groups are often in demand.
Check first: in some countries extra income can affect a pension or benefits. Ask before you start earning regularly.
Working from home with limited mobility
Your advantages: many of the most flexible side hustles are entirely online.
- User testing, where accessibility testers are sometimes specifically sought.
- Writing, editing and transcription.
- Online tutoring.
- Surveys and research studies at your own pace.
Check first: if you receive disability benefits, find out how extra income is treated before you start.
This is part of a 4-part guide on choosing a side hustle. The main article sorts side hustles by the time they need.