Digital SAT Reading and Writing Practice Question #743

Text 1 Critics of the gig economy often argue that the model fundamentally exploits workers by classifying them as independent contractors, thereby stripping them of traditional safety nets like employer-sponsored health insurance and paid leave. They contend that this structural precariousness forces gig workers to labor for significantly longer hours just to achieve financial parity with traditional employees, ultimately leading to severe burnout. Text 2 While it is undeniably true that independent contractor status lacks traditional safety nets, focusing solely on this deficit ignores the high premium many workers place on professional autonomy. Recent labor surveys indicate that a clear majority of full-time gig workers would immediately decline traditional corporate employment if it meant sacrificing the ability to instantly dictate their own schedules and pivot daily between different income streams. Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the specific contention in Text 1 that gig workers are 'forced to labor for significantly longer hours'?