Big fall in the number of self-employed

THE number of self-employed workers has fallen by almost 700,000 in the past two years, new research suggests.

The self-employed workforce fell from a peak of nearly five million in 2019 to 4.3 million this year, according to Rest Less, which offers advice to older people.

As well as the impact of the pandemic, changes to legislation led to many contractors who previously classed themselves as self-employed moving on to company payrolls, said the report.

The number of self-employed workers fell across all age categories apart from those in their 70s and 80s. There are more self-employed in the 50-59 age group than in any other age group.

Stuart Lewis, founder of Rest Less, said: “The self-employed workforce has gone through a tumultuous couple of years as they faced the pandemic shutdown with business drying up overnight for many, as well as sweeping legislation around IR35 in April, which brought an end to many previous self-employed contractors providing their services through personal services companies.

“Whilst the number of selfemployed workers overall has shrunk by 14% in two years, selfemployment remains an attractive option for many workers in their 50s, 60s and beyond, with workers over 50 making up nearly half of the entire self-employed population.”

More than two-in-five (41 per cent) of self-employed workers have experienced a fall in earnings of 25 per cent or more during the pandemic and many, especially those newly self-employed, missed out on Covid grants.

Rising self-employment, particularly solo self-employment, has been a key feature of the UK’S labour market for at least two decades.