European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
The tripartite EU agency providing knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work-related policies
The tripartite EU agency providing knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work-related policies
In the rapidly changing world of work, the traditional dichotomy of employee and self-employed is insufficient to capture the wide diversity of self-employed workers in Europe today. This report identifies five categories of self-employed, reflecting the wide-ranging attitudes, income levels, and health and well-being among this diverse group. Based on data from the sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) and the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS), the analysis reveals that the majority of self-employed workers enjoy high levels of job quality. However, there are concerns in relation to so-called ‘economically dependent workers’: while they are classed as self-employed, they lack both the autonomy that self-employment usually offers and the social protection granted by regular employment. Some policy approaches of Member States to this ‘in-between’ employment status are described in detail, which are of relevance for the discussions around the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Self-employment in the European Union is in a process of continual change. While the proportion of the self-employed in the EU28 Member States is stable, its composition has shifted. While on the one hand there has been a decline in employment in agriculture (generally self-employment), on the other hand the proportions of self-employed workers in the services sector and public sector have increased. Another recent phenomenon is the increase in the proportion of self-employed people who do not employ workers. Across the European Union, some countries have experienced a greater degree of change in the proportion of self-employed workers than in others. In general, self-employment has become more varied and this diversity presents a challenge for policymakers. Read more in the report - see Related content.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the 2015 EWCS. The survey was first carried out in 1991.
Eurofound is an agency of the European Union
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