Hoping that self-employment through gig economy can solve their financial woes, a hard-up UK delivery driver and his wife struggling to raise a family end up trapped in the vicious circle of this modern-day form of labour exploitation.

Ricky and his family have been fighting an uphill struggle against debt since the 2008 financial crash. An opportunity to wrestle back some independence appears with a shiny new van and the chance to run a franchise as a self employed delivery driver. It's hard work, and his wife's job as a carer is no easier. The family unit is strong but when both are pulled in different directions everything comes to breaking point.

Ricky and his wife Abby live in Newcastle with their two children. Since the financial crisis in 2008, they have been struggling with debts. Ricky gets by with odd jobs as a handyman, Abby works as a nurse for the elderly. But they can only just make ends meet. Nevertheless, they dream of a little independence and a house of their own. That's why Ricky signs a franchise contract and is now a freelance courier for a parcel delivery company. "You're your own boss," grins Maloney, his boss. However, Ricky has to bring the delivery van himself. In order for him to afford it, they have to sell Abby's car. For her, this makes the already stressful job even more exhausting, because now she has to make her patient rounds by bus. The day-to-day reality of being a self-employed parcel delivery driver brings unexpected challenges for Ricky. In a business that pays per order, he soon reaches his limits, over-tiredness and existential anxiety get to him. It is a vicious circle of dependencies from which Ricky and Abby desperately try to break out. The cohesion of the small family is increasingly lost because there is hardly any time left for each other, especially teenage son Seb begins to rebel, he no longer goes to school and rebels. Little Liza Jae tries everything to keep the four together.