Its what you make of it
FWIW, I am with my 15th airline. In 27 years I haven't spend one day in forced unemployment. Yes there have been a few periods of 'down time' but it was of my own choosing. Yes, some contracts were not as good as others but I moved on. I've made a good living, had a lot fun, been and done a lot of interesting things and wouldn't trade it for a one or two airline carreer if I had it to do all over again.
Bottom line is, contracting is what you make of it. If you'd be happy moving to different locales, if you don't mind not knowing where you'll be or what you'll be flying 2 years from now, if you can be fiscally responsible and have a good financial plan and most importantly, if you can stay open minded, you can be very happy.
If, on the other hand, you want 'stability', long term certainty and the ability to plan your vactions and serious life events down to the day or week, if you can't plan your finances, save and invest, contracting might not be for you.
There have been plenty of contractors I have known that have moved around a lot and then found a place they really liked and settled there for many years. Others, like me, just keep moving around. Like most carreer decisions for pilots, you need to to think hard about where you want to be and how you're going to get there. My advice: Don't go off on tangents unless you are very sure of what you're doing. You'll end up very unhappy.
Cheers