“Providing equity would allow partners to share in the growth of the company, which could lead to enhanced earning and saving opportunities for the partner and for the generations ahead,” Uber’s head of federal affairs, Danielle Burr, said in a letter to the S.E.C.

Rob Chesnut, Airbnb general counsel, echoed the sentiments in his comments to the S.E.C.

“As a sharing economy marketplace, Airbnb succeeds when these hosts succeed,” he wrote. “We believe that enabling private companies to grant hosts and other sharing economy participants equity in the company from an earlier stage would further align incentives between such companies and their sharing economy participants to the benefit of both.”

And Postmates said it hoped it could grant equity to its contractors. “While we are proud that our fleet earns significantly higher than minimum wage across jurisdictions, we are also committed to the long term upward mobility of our Postmates,” company executives wrote, using company jargon for its gig workers.

Even gig workers chimed in.

“Permitting Uber contractors to own stock in the firm would be another measure which would allow a large group of people on the lower economic rung of society to make significant strides toward the greater wealth and financial security enjoyed by the middle class,” wrote Brian Sament, who identified himself as an “UberEats delivery guy.”

Yet even if gig economy workers did have access to equity, there is no guarantee that it would solve their financial woes. Though it’s not clear if such equity grants would replace or reduce wages, labor experts say that relying on private company stock is risky, especially for workers lacking financial security.