Employment additional status — Work data 2026 | Stack Overflow Developer Survey

Respondents often have overlapping obligations. 18% of employed respondents care for dependents, while substantial numbers combine employment, contracting, or study with additional paid work.

Social (.png) Vector (.svg)

Question

Which of the following other current work, school, or life responsibilities are you currently engaged in?

multi select
Optional
v2026.1

Data

	None of the above	Caring for dependents (children, elderly, etc.)	Engaged in paid work (20-29 hours per week)	Attending school (full-time)	Volunteering (regularly)	Engaged in paid work (less than 10 hours per week)	Attending school (part-time)	Engaged in paid work (10-19 hours per week)	Transitioning to retirement (gradually reducing work hours)
Employed	8,763	3,954	3,441	646	1,994	1,031	916	609	240
Student	200	64	308	2,274	367	281	311	229	25
Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed	1,366	876	1,085	232	641	468	256	407	324
Not employed	939	209	67	114	227	115	111	57	44
Retired	260	75	20	11	190	34	17	20	80

Use this data

The Markdown table shows one column per segment; the CSV and JSON carry every measure.

Citation

Response data is released under the ODbL 1.0, which asks that you attribute it.

Stack Exchange Inc. (2026). “Employment additional status”. Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2026. Licensed under ODbL 1.0. https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/employment-addl

JSON

Structured for code, with the question, the year and the source url alongside the numbers.

{
  "question": "Employment additional status",
  "dataId": "EmploymentAddl",
  "asked": "Which of the following other current work, school, or life responsibilities are you currently engaged in?",
  "year": "2026",
  "url": "https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/employment-addl",
  "demographic": {
    "id": "all-respondents",
    "type": "all",
    "name": "All Respondents",
    "n": 28099,
    "share": null
  },
  "series": [
    "None of the above",
    "Caring for dependents (children, elderly, etc.)",
    "Engaged in paid work (20-29 hours per week)",
    "Attending school (full-time)",
    "Volunteering (regularly)",
    "Engaged in paid work (less than 10 hours per week)",
    "Attending school (part-time)",
    "Engaged in paid work (10-19 hours per week)",
    "Transitioning to retirement (gradually reducing work hours)"
  ],
  "columns": [
    {
      "key": "series",
      "header": "Segment",
      "unit": "",
      "numeric": false
    },
    {
      "key": "response",
      "header": "Employment additional status",
      "unit": "",
      "numeric": false
    },
    {
      "key": "count",
      "header": "Respondents",
      "unit": "",
      "numeric": true
    }
  ],
  "licence": {
    "name": "ODbL 1.0",
    "url": "https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/",
    "holder": "Stack Exchange Inc."
  },
  "source": "Stack Overflow Developer Survey",
  "data": [
    {
      "series": "None of the above",
      "response": "Employed",
      "count": 8763
    },
    {
      "series": "Caring for dependents (children, elderly, etc.)",
      "response": "Employed",
      "count": 3954
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (20-29 hours per week)",
      "response": "Employed",
      "count": 3441
    },
    {
      "series": "Attending school (full-time)",
      "response": "Student",
      "count": 2274
    },
    {
      "series": "Volunteering (regularly)",
      "response": "Employed",
      "count": 1994
    },
    {
      "series": "None of the above",
      "response": "Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed",
      "count": 1366
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (20-29 hours per week)",
      "response": "Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed",
      "count": 1085
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (less than 10 hours per week)",
      "response": "Employed",
      "count": 1031
    },
    {
      "series": "None of the above",
      "response": "Not employed",
      "count": 939
    },
    {
      "series": "Attending school (part-time)",
      "response": "Employed",
      "count": 916
    },
    {
      "series": "Caring for dependents (children, elderly, etc.)",
      "response": "Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed",
      "count": 876
    },
    {
      "series": "Attending school (full-time)",
      "response": "Employed",
      "count": 646
    },
    {
      "series": "Volunteering (regularly)",
      "response": "Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed",
      "count": 641
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (10-19 hours per week)",
      "response": "Employed",
      "count": 609
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (less than 10 hours per week)",
      "response": "Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed",
      "count": 468
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (10-19 hours per week)",
      "response": "Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed",
      "count": 407
    },
    {
      "series": "Volunteering (regularly)",
      "response": "Student",
      "count": 367
    },
    {
      "series": "Transitioning to retirement (gradually reducing work hours)",
      "response": "Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed",
      "count": 324
    },
    {
      "series": "Attending school (part-time)",
      "response": "Student",
      "count": 311
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (20-29 hours per week)",
      "response": "Student",
      "count": 308
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (less than 10 hours per week)",
      "response": "Student",
      "count": 281
    },
    {
      "series": "None of the above",
      "response": "Retired",
      "count": 260
    },
    {
      "series": "Attending school (part-time)",
      "response": "Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed",
      "count": 256
    },
    {
      "series": "Transitioning to retirement (gradually reducing work hours)",
      "response": "Employed",
      "count": 240
    },
    {
      "series": "Attending school (full-time)",
      "response": "Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed",
      "count": 232
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (10-19 hours per week)",
      "response": "Student",
      "count": 229
    },
    {
      "series": "Volunteering (regularly)",
      "response": "Not employed",
      "count": 227
    },
    {
      "series": "Caring for dependents (children, elderly, etc.)",
      "response": "Not employed",
      "count": 209
    },
    {
      "series": "None of the above",
      "response": "Student",
      "count": 200
    },
    {
      "series": "Volunteering (regularly)",
      "response": "Retired",
      "count": 190
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (less than 10 hours per week)",
      "response": "Not employed",
      "count": 115
    },
    {
      "series": "Attending school (full-time)",
      "response": "Not employed",
      "count": 114
    },
    {
      "series": "Attending school (part-time)",
      "response": "Not employed",
      "count": 111
    },
    {
      "series": "Transitioning to retirement (gradually reducing work hours)",
      "response": "Retired",
      "count": 80
    },
    {
      "series": "Caring for dependents (children, elderly, etc.)",
      "response": "Retired",
      "count": 75
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (20-29 hours per week)",
      "response": "Not employed",
      "count": 67
    },
    {
      "series": "Caring for dependents (children, elderly, etc.)",
      "response": "Student",
      "count": 64
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (10-19 hours per week)",
      "response": "Not employed",
      "count": 57
    },
    {
      "series": "Transitioning to retirement (gradually reducing work hours)",
      "response": "Not employed",
      "count": 44
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (less than 10 hours per week)",
      "response": "Retired",
      "count": 34
    },
    {
      "series": "Transitioning to retirement (gradually reducing work hours)",
      "response": "Student",
      "count": 25
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (10-19 hours per week)",
      "response": "Retired",
      "count": 20
    },
    {
      "series": "Engaged in paid work (20-29 hours per week)",
      "response": "Retired",
      "count": 20
    },
    {
      "series": "Attending school (part-time)",
      "response": "Retired",
      "count": 17
    },
    {
      "series": "Attending school (full-time)",
      "response": "Retired",
      "count": 11
    }
  ]
}

Markdown

A formatted table, ready to paste into a document, an issue or a prompt.

|  | None of the above | Caring for dependents (children, elderly, etc.) | Engaged in paid work (20-29 hours per week) | Attending school (full-time) | Volunteering (regularly) | Engaged in paid work (less than 10 hours per week) | Attending school (part-time) | Engaged in paid work (10-19 hours per week) | Transitioning to retirement (gradually reducing work hours) |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Employed | 8,763 | 3,954 | 3,441 | 646 | 1,994 | 1,031 | 916 | 609 | 240 |
| Student | 200 | 64 | 308 | 2,274 | 367 | 281 | 311 | 229 | 25 |
| Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed | 1,366 | 876 | 1,085 | 232 | 641 | 468 | 256 | 407 | 324 |
| Not employed | 939 | 209 | 67 | 114 | 227 | 115 | 111 | 57 | 44 |
| Retired | 260 | 75 | 20 | 11 | 190 | 34 | 17 | 20 | 80 |

Spreadsheet

.csv is a plain text format which most spreadsheet software can open.