The self-employed work longer hours for less money than those in regular employment but find their work more fulfilling, a new study suggests.
Research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) expresses the view that business owners feel they have to work more due to feelings of financial insecurity.
However, the survey also showed that the response of the self-employed to higher earnings is to work fewer hours.
Researchers found that 10% of the UK workforce is self-employed making them ‘very-important to the overall labour market’.
One of the authors, Professor Simon Parker, says that the study could be used by policy makers to find ways to encourage entrepreneurial activity.
He suggests a number of avenues for the government to take including, alleviating risk through welfare benefits to make self-employment less risky, targeting promotions at younger rather than older workers as few switch to self-employment in later working life and running entrepreneurship programmes to promote continuous business awareness and learning.
Professor Parker said: “More than one-in-ten workers are self-employed in the UK and they employ a similar number of people and run most of the UK's firms. This makes them a very important part of the overall labour market.
“The study has revealed a number of key findings that might make it easier for policy-makers to successfully promote entrepreneurship and self-employment.”
