News - 27 September 2017 09:00

Publication alert: Exploring self-employment in the European Union

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.

Download or order the report: Exploring self-employment in the European Union

Topics

Contacts

James Higgins

Press contact Communication Officer jhi@eurofound.europa.eu +353-1-204-3100

Måns Mårtensson

Press contact Media & Promotion Manager Media relations, marketing and promotion mma@eurofound.europa.eu +353-1-204 3124

Increasing numbers of working poor in post-crisis Europe

One in ten workers in the EU is at risk of poverty, and 13% of workers are materially deprived and cannot afford basic household goods. Despite the fact that levels of in-work poverty have increased in Europe during the financial crisis, most Member States do not specifically address in-work poverty.

17 August 2017 07:45

Trend of converging working time across 28 EU Member States has stalled

The difference in working time between workers in the 28 EU Member States remains large and is especially marked between the ‘older’ 15 EU Member States and the 13 new Member States that joined the EU since 2004, according to new research from Eurofound.

17 July 2017 08:00

Aspects of non-standard employment in Europe

This report examines developments in non-standard employment – temporary, temporary agency and part-time work and self-employment – over the last decade. It shows that the significant increase in the temporary employment rate between the late 1980s and the early 2000s has been halted and replaced by a slight decline from 14.5% in 2006 to 14.2% in 2016.

21 August 2017 11:53

Employment shifts in Europe during the recovery: Three little noticed trends

In this blog piece, originally posted on Social Europe, Eurofound Research Manager John Hurley looks at shifting employment structures in recent years.

27 October 2017 13:45

The many faces of self-employment in Europe

In this new blog piece Mathijn Wilkens looks at the multi-faceted nature of self-employment in Europe – from the entrepreneurial independent self-employed, to those that find themselves in a more vulnerable position.