PeoplePerHour has embarked on its first comprehensive semi-annual self-employment report to determine the underlying market drivers and labour trends in this burgeoning segment of the labour force. Our analysis is two-fold in that we prepare an exhaustive questionnaire that drills down into the socio-economic aspects of self-employment both at home in the UK, and our broader global self-employed marketplace. The second component of our research involves a deep data-drive into our user-population to determine aspects such as average project duration, income, industry and average hours worked.

1. August, 2015
Semi-Annual Report on Self-Employment
by
Prepared by Meagan Crawford, Internal Economist at PeoplePerHour

2. PAGE 1
PeoplePerHour has embarked on its first comprehensive semi-annual self-employment
report to determine the underlying market drivers and labour trends in this burgeoning
segment of the labour force. Our analysis is two-fold in that we prepare an exhaustive ques-
tionnaire that drills down into the socio-economic aspects of self-employment both at
home in the UK, and our broader global self-employed marketplace. The second component
of our research involves a deep data-drive into our user-population to determine aspects
such as average project duration, income, industry and average hours worked.
Fundamentally, self-employment refers to a choice an individual chooses to exercise by
taking responsibility for the success or failure of their work; far too often, self-employment
has been used to mask an employer/employee relationship in an effort to limit liability and
dodge paying employee benefits such as national insurance, sick pay and
pension contributions.
What is
Self-Employment?

3. PAGE 2
Self-Employment EmployeeVS
What do you need to know?
Self-Employment refers to a person who has consciously made a choice to operate as a sole proprietor, independent contractor or
freelancer, by taking on all of the day-to-day risk of operating independently such as; bearing the personal risk of the success or failure of
one’s future, making their own hours, and bearing responsibility for correcting unsatisfactory work.
Independent Contractor: An independent contractor is an individual who works across various contracts for a specified period of time.
Contracts are typically agreed in written form with the project scope and timeline stated. As in Independent Contractor you would
maintain control and ownership of: intellectual property, equipment and supplies, and your schedule. Contractors are typically highly
specialized across trade professions and IT.
Freelance/Gig-preneur: A Freelancer or Gig-preneur is an individual who typically works across multiple shorter projects for multiple
clients. Contracts are often agreed to in either verbal or written form where the project scope and duration is specified. Freelancers/-
Gig-preneurs are most common in cultural and creative industries.
Self-employment:
Key indicators of Self-Employment:
● Invoice clients for work done
● You are trusted to do the work yourself – as long as the final
product is up to standard
● Your work at the place you decide, although some jobs may
need to be carried out on site
● You have the freedom to decide when you work, in
consultation with your engager
● You only do a specified job, unless your willing to
amend/broaden your services
● You are an independent provider of services and not a
permanent part of the engagers business
● You are responsible for your own training and certification
● You are responsible for paying and filing all taxes and for
obtaining benefits
● Paid a regular wage consistently throughout the calendar year
● Your work is specified by your employer and supervised
● You work at the place of your employer
● Your hours are specified by your employer
● Your employer can move you from job to job as needed
● You have a recognized role and an employee contract
● You can be fired from your position
Key indicators of an employee:
Employee:
The definition of an employee is rooted in who maintains control over how work is delivered and performed. An individual who performs
services for you is your employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done. For instance, if an individual is told what
time to show up at work, the method/process employed to complete work the individual is an employee.

4. PAGE 3
Key Report Findings for August 2015
There has been a structural shift to self-employment over the last two decades, with a marked
acceleration in the number of individuals moving into self-employment since the downturn.
The on-demand economy has ushered in a new and rapidly emerging on-demand labour force
that has stripped away conventional modes of working by empowering truly flexible workers. In
fact, those in self-employment officially make up just over 16% of the UK workforce according
to ONS statistics in July 2015, based on both official and unofficial data sources we anticipate
that the number of those working in a self-employed capacity will reach 1 in 2 workers by 2020.
We are beginning to observe a fundamental shift in the composition of those in
self-employment. In the years following the downturn we saw a large shift into
self-employment by silver-haired workers who suffered from redundancy or needed to top up
losses in retirement, however in our most recent findings, we observe inflows from Millennials
and GenerationX between the ages of 23-35 accounting for 63.1% of respondents. Of this new
generation of self-employed workers we have begun to observe some key behavioral insights
behind the choice to become self-employed: flexible hours accounted for the single biggest
driver into self-employment, followed closely by independence and freedom to be one’s own
boss, in third place we found that the challenge, creativity, potential for success and satisfaction
of work to be tremendously important drivers into self-employment. Therefore, it is not
surprising that over 87% of respondents reported that taking everything else into
account, that they would choose to be self-employed.
Another interesting insight into this new generation of self-employed has been the number of
highly educated workers, who are actively reskilling themselves to remain competitive within
the labour market. Of the respondents, just over 60% held a degree or equivalent, a further 28%
reporting higher education and 54% reported reskilling throughout their period of
self-employment. These are all positive indicators that this new generation of a highly skilled
flexible workforce.
i The Evolution of the On-Demand Economy, June 2015

5. PAGE 4
Average age of respondents: 26.8
Average age of UK respondents: 33.8
16-22 23-27 28-35 36-42 43-50 >50Age range
11.7%
34.2%
28.9%
11.7%
7% 6.6%
Male
68.2%
Female
30.4%
Prefer not to say 1.5%
GENDER BREAKDOWN OF RESPONDENTS:
the sample size for the survey conducted in June, 2015 n=514

6. PAGE 5
Yes
38.4%No
53.3%
Not sure
8.3%
THOSE WHO REPORTED MOVING IN AND OUT OF
SELF-EMPLOYED STATUS OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS:
REPORTED RANGE OF HOURS WORKED PER DAY:
6.2hrs
Average
3.4
Standard Deviation
1-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11+
21.9%
25.2%
21.3%
14.5%
17.2%
Hours

7. PAGE 6
REPORTED SELF-EMPLOYED STATUS:
full-time self-employment
53.7%
Self-employed part-time
24.4%
Self-employed full-time,
work as an employee
part-time
9.7%
Self-employed part-time,
work as an employee
full-time
12.2%
REPORTED NUMBER OF YEARS SELF-EMPLOYED:
3.3
Average
4.6
UK average
2.8
Standard
Deviation
1 2 5 8 10
33.5%
30.2%
23.1%
5.8%
7.4%
Number of Years
Respondents reporting employees: Respondents reported status on saving for retirement:
Yes
No
Not Sure
21.5% 26%
74%75.4%
3.1%
Years
Years

8. PAGE 7
Flexible hours
Balance of work and family
Work from home
Independence, Freedom and own boss
Control, responsibility, decision making
Challenge, creativity, success, satisfaction
More money, unlimited income
Lower taxes, deductions
Had to be self-employed (nature of job)
Joined or took over family business
Don’t know
Other
12
10.7
13.2
21.7
6.4
20.3
5.2
0
1.2
3.1
2.1
3.9
PERCENTAGE
MAIN DRIVERS BEHIND BECOMING SELF-EMPLOYED

9. RESPONDENTS REPORTED THE (3) MOST NEGATIVE FACTORS OF
SELF-EMPLOYMENT:
Uncertainty, insecurity, risk, lack of stability
Fluctuations of income, cash flow problems
Tax burden
Low income
Lack of benefits
Too much responsibility
Long hours, no time off
Interference in family life
Working alone, isolation
Tasks related to running a business
Stress
Other
Don’t know
56.8
51.5
28.7
24.6
19
18.2
14.5
12.2
9.9
9.1
7.4
6.6
PERCENTAGE
3.9
Respondents reporting that
childcare was a driver to
self-employment
If yes, respondents
reporting that childcare was
a financial burden
Of the respondents answering
yes, childcare was a driver of
self-employment:
Men
31%
Women
27%
No
67.2%
Yes
23.6%
Don’t Know
9.3%
Don’t Know
6.1%
Yes
56.1%
No
37.7%
PAGE 8

10. REPORTED AVERAGE TAKE HOME EARNINGS (£)
FOR THE YEAR OF 2014:
Average Average for UK
respondents
Standard Deviation
£18,200.00 £19,512.50 8.5
TOP FOUR UK OCCUPATIONS CATEGORIES
BY MEDIAN EARNING 2014
MANAGEMENT OCCUPATIONS
£32,083
BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL
OPERATIONS
£23,000
COMPUTER AND MATHEMATICAL
£22,857
ART, DESIGN ENTERTAINMENT
AND SPORTS
£17,090
PAGE 9

11. RESPONDENTS REPORTED FIELD OF WORK
Management
Business and financial operations
Computer and mathematical
Architecture and engineering
Life, physical, and social science
Community and social services
Legal
Education, training, and library
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media
Healthcare practitioners and technical
Healthcare support
Protective service
Food preparation and serving related
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance
Personal care and service
Sales and related
Office and administrative support
Farming, fishing, and forestry
Construction and extraction
Installation, maintenance, and repair
Production
Transportation and material moving
Military specific
4.8%
7%
25%
3.5%
1.7%
1.5%
0.8%
4.3%
1%
0.4%
0%
0.8%
0.4%
0.6%
4.1%
8.5%
0%
0.8%
1%
1%
0%
0.2%
RESPONDENTS REPORTED EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT:
No qualifications
GCSE Grade A*-C or equivalent
GCE A-Levels or equivalent
Higher Education
Degree of Equivalent
2.3% 3.5%
6.4%
27.7%
60.1%
PAGE 10

12. PAGE 11
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
No
26%
Yes
74%
Respondents reported status
on saving for retirement:
Retirement
Main reasons behind lack of retirement savings:
Spouse – partner has a pension plan, or other investments
Cannot afford saving or investing at this time
It is too early to prepare for retirement
Government pension plan is sufficient
Other
37.9%
8.6%
4.1%2.4%
47%
Childcare
Whether childcare has contributed to the decision
to become self-employed:
If yes, was childcare a financial burden:
Yes
No
Not Sure
23.6%
6.1%
56.1%
67.2%
9.3%
37.7%
Those who have experienced financial difficulty
during a period of self-employment:
5.4%
Yes
63.6%
No
31%
Don’t know

13. Aylish Jarvie
Aylish is an expert in the rapidly
shifting freelance-marketplace,
and has become an authority on
self-employment trends
across the UK.
Meagan Crawford
Meagan Crawford, is our Internal
Economist at PeoplePerHour. She
holds a MA in Economics, with a
specialization in Labour Economics
and Urban Economic Development.
For Press Inquiries please contact:
Head of PR Aylish Jarvie
aylish@peopleperhour.com

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