UK – A closer look at the rise in self-employment

Government ministers like to talk about the jobs created on their watch, but over the last few years lots of people have been creating their own jobs. Three quarters of the increase in employment since 2008 has come from self-employment.

Source: ONS employment statistics

Some have hailed this as the sign of a new entrepreneurial spirit in Britain. It is these new businesses, they say, that will provide the economic growth for the coming decade.

But is this sharp rise in self-employment really a sign of dynamism in the economy?

Let’s look at the facts…

• Self-employed incomes are low
• Most of the new businesses are very small
• Countries with high self-employment rates tend to be poorer.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Is the rise in self-employment really a Good Thing? : RSA blogs.

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