Popularly seen as the province of the young, it now provides work for a growing number of people in their 50s, 60s and beyond.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics includes independent contractors (who may be self-employed but well compensated) and estimates that 11.4 percent of those aged 50 to 62 have nontraditional jobs. The Government Accountability Office, using an even broader definition including part-timers, says the figure is 31.2 percent.

Among workers over 62, economists at The New School’s Retirement Equity Lab have found that 9 percent were in “on-call, temp, contract or gig jobs” in 2015; the researchers believe the percentage has grown since then.

In a just-published report, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College put the number of nontraditional job holders at about 20 percent of 50- to 62-year-old workers, using data from the national Health and Retirement Study.

Their study defines nontraditional jobs as those that provide no health insurance or retirement benefits. “They’re probably low-paid,” said Alicia Munnell, director of the center. “Some have erratic schedules.”

According to the report, only about a quarter of 50-year-old workers stayed at a traditional job with benefits until age 62; some classified as early retirees may not have left their jobs voluntarily.

Are these nontraditional options bad jobs? It depends on how they’re used. Some nontraditional workers, for instance, can forgo benefits because their spouses have them.