A new study reveals that switching from five-star to thumbs-up/down rating systems virtually eliminates racial discrimination in customer evaluations, potentially transforming how millions of gig workers are paid.
Researchers found that this simple change erased a significant wage gap where non-white workers earned just 91 cents for every dollar paid to white workers for identical service jobs—a discovery with far-reaching implications for platforms like Uber, TaskRabbit, and countless other digital marketplaces.
How Small Rating Differences Create Major Income Inequalities
The research, published in Nature on February 19, 2025, examined data from a home services platform that connects customers with contractors for repairs and maintenance work. When using the traditional five-star rating system, non-white workers consistently received slightly lower ratings than their white…
