The Rise of "Wealth Work"

Quartz's Life coaches are the new personal trainer highlights a trend we've been tracking since 2008, the growth of personal services. 

These are what noted labor economist David Autor calls "wealth work". 

A good example is the growth are personal trainers. Back in 2000 there were so few the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) didn't track them. Now there are over 300,000 in the U.S. and it continues to be a fast growing profession.

The chart below, which is from one of Autor's presentations, shows other examples of wealth work (click to enlarge).

Autor attributes the growth of wealth work to rising incomes. But in addition rising incomes and a growing group of wealthy folks, there are 4 other drivers: 

1. A Lack of Time:  Unlike the prior generations, most affluent Americans work - and work long hours.  A lack of time, coupled with high earnings, means outsourcing personal tasks makes a lot of sense.
2. Life's Growing Complexity:  Many tasks have become so complex or specialized that outside help by professionals is simply required.
3. Fear of Falling Behind:  Many wealth or well-off people are concerned about falling behind, or their children falling behind. This has led to coaching of all kinds. Think sports, academics, arts and music coaching for kids and things like life coaches, career coaches, wealth managers, etc. for adults. 
4. Wealth workers don't just cater to the wealthy. People with even modest incomes increasingly utilize personal services.

The last point is very important.

Much of what is called "the on-demand economy" and "sharing economy" falls into the personal services sector. Everything from dog walking to food delivery to running errands can now easily and cheaply be outsourced to personal services companies.

These firms have democratized the use of personal services, which means it's not just the rich driving demand.

Not everyone thinks the rise of wealth work is good. For example, Atlantic's recent article The Servant Economy is, no surprise given the title, quite negative on this trend. 

We're more positive. 

But no matter how you feel about it, the long-term outlook for high-end personal services is strong.  Life is unlikely to get easier or less complex anytime soon, so it's likely more people will utilize personal services.