[iainctduncan]

No. I've been doing part time work in tech for almost 20 years, and have done part time work for many "meaningful" jobs: working for scientists, contracting for non-profits, building better ed tech systems, working for hospital fundraising foundations, school boards, etc. There's a lot more to negotiation than money. In all of those I've been able to charge decent market rates, and work part time.

I'd say helping the forest service for environment canada collect forest fire data is meaningful, as is helping track underwater noise to reduce marine mammal damage.

It is absolutely a seller's market for developers right now. If you can't find part-time work in a meaningful field, it means you don't know how to look for work and ask for what you want, full stop.