The sharing economy gets applauded for its flexibility and convenience for its workers, and there’s no denying the fact that there are many pros to working in the industry. It allows people with restrictions, whether it’s that they’re in school, have children or suffer from disabilities, they have opportunity to make money in a more personalized way.

Yet, what we’re starting to see is large corporations integrating the sharing economy model, such as GE acquiring Quirky, a company that allows anyone with an innovative idea to get in front of investors via their platform. The partnership will allow thousands of people to pitch energy efficient ideas to major enterprises. Everyday partnerships are being forged in order to make life, not only easier, but more efficient. Although, there are the people on the ground putting in their time to make a living for themselves and their families through these technology platforms.

I’ve taken countless Uber rides and never thought to talk to any of the drivers about what it’s like to work for the company. Yet recently, having done a sizable amount of research about the company, I decided to ask my already chatty driver what his experience was like. He’d been driving for Uber several years, saying at first he was able to bring home nearly $8,000 a month, which greatly improved his ability to support his family. However, he said, since the exponential increase of drivers, the amount he makes each month has greatly decreased due to the ratio of supply and demand. This wasn’t surprising to hear, since there are always an ample amount of drivers ready for pickup at any given point. The driver said that he now comes away with around $3,000-$4,000 a month, which isn’t nearly enough to live on.

What I was shocked to hear was the fact that he wasn’t compensated for any services involving his vehicle. This includes: insurance, gas, maintenance and parking (which in San Francisco comes at a steep cost.) And it’s not just Uber that has these practices, Lyft and Instacart both do not provide coverage for their drivers.

A couple months ago I decided to try out Handy, an online home services platform, for the first time to get a house cleaner. My cleaner, Jen, who was in her late fifties, came in with a great attitude and did her job well. Towards the end of the two hours, we got to talking about where she’s from, how long she’s lived in San Francisco and so forth. She happened to be a San Francisco native, living in Noe Valley with her 24 year old son. She explained how she had gotten laid off from her previous job, and therefore had to pick up these odd jobs. Her story was heart-wrenching. Even working long hours to pay her mortgage, she’s still unable to get health insurance for herself or her son.

Are the wages a sustainable source of income?

Countless people share the same problem. The stories of faith that picking up odd-jobs the sharing economy provides will give them flexibility and freedom to live their lives freely; but the reality of the situation is the average one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco costs $3,120/month and the average income of a sharing economy worker is $18/hr. So, even though they are making above minimum wage, people still have to work a little over 43 hours a week to pay just for a one-bedroom apartment. So it’s not surprising that according to a study conducted by Requests for Startups, 50% of people working within the sharing economy plan on going back to a normal career within about a year.

What’s stopping people from getting the benefits they deserve?

It’s that these companies are technology platforms, not employers. In the beginning I could agree with this statement. You provide a platform for people to create a self-reliant business off of. Yet, with the amount of “users” these platforms have, it’s impossible to say that there’s no responsibility on their part to support and protect the people that are making their business succeed. I am in no way a proponent of complete regulation. Innovation gets crushed if there are too many boundaries set, but I think founders need to start exercising some accountability for their actions.

Can there be a middle ground?

Since the workers of the sharing economy do not fit into the traditional employee and independent contractor column, there needs to be a third class of worker. Germany, France and Canada have been working to create that exact thing. What I’m quite frankly sick of hearing, is that there is nothing to be done. It’s either profound laziness or conscious ignorance. Again there shouldn’t be full-range regulation, but the founders of these companies can’t sit up on their high-horse while people are unable to insure themselves. We know the business model is successful, that’s been proven true, but now it’s time to advocate for the people that made that possible.

Read what SF Gate had to say here