In recent years, the UK has seen an explosion in the popularity of freelancing as an alternative to traditional employed positions. In fact, figures from The Economist suggest that there are now 700,000 more self-employed people in the country than there were in 2008.
Contract work has proved particularly popular among women, as the rate of self-employment in this demographic has risen from eight per cent to ten per cent over the last seven years, and nearly half the extra jobs taken by women have been self-employed.
The Economist suggests that the overall rise in female employment (which went from 74 per cent to 76 per cent over the same period) is because more women who were unwilling or unable to work in employee roles decided to become freelancers.
One of the biggest reasons for the increasing number of women who are self-employed is that it offers a high degree of flexibility. As women often take on family responsibilities such as childcare and looking after elderly parents, being able to plan their day to suit their needs is amajor advantage.
It is also useful to be able to change plans at relatively short notice to deal with emergencies (such as an ill child or care arrangements falling through), which can be harder to organise for employees with set hours.
These benefits have been increased by the technological advantages that have made remote working into a viable possibility for many more people. The ability to run your professional life without leaving the house cuts down on the amount of travel necessary – resulting in substantial savings in not only money, but also time and stress.
Highly skilled professional women are also discovering that self-employment can allow them to continue to use their talents and be paid accordingly, but without necessarily having to take on the 24/7 responsibility that is required for some senior roles.
Unfortunately, discrimination is sometimes still a feature of modern workplaces, and it can be a challenging obstacle to overcome. For some women who feel that they have become stuck on the so-called “mummy track”, taking more control of their working lives by becoming self-employed can be an empowering way to revitalise their career.
On the other hand, the decision to work for yourself can be born out of a desire to shake things up and change your priorities, as few working mothers have time to waste doing things that don’t really work for them.
For instance, becoming self-employed can allow women to pursue a creative niche that they would have difficulty doing if they were working for an employer. As people become more mature, they sometimes realise their life has taken a different direction to the one they would have preferred, and one way of making a change of career is to start their own business or begin working for themselves.
In short, the reasons that self-employment appeals to women are as varied and complex as the individual women themselves. However, it is clear that self-employment is presenting opportunities and benefits that other ways of working currently do not.
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I am a chartered tax advisor with a specialism in the freelance contractor sector advising contractors on how to structure their affairs and recruitment businesses and end hirers on the effective…
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