Poverty and material deprivation among the self-employed in Europe: an exploration of a relatively uncharted landscape
"In work-poverty has become a pressing social issue in Europe. The self-employed remain relatively uncharted terrain in this context. With about 15 percent of European workers in self-employment this group can no longer be ignored, especially since self-employment is on the rise in many countri...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Institution: | ETUI-European Trade Union Institute |
| Format: | TEXT |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Bonn
2017
IZA |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19286431124910046139-Poverty-and-material-deprivati.htm |
| _version_ | 1771659896938299393 |
|---|---|
| author | Horemans, Jeroen Marx, Ive |
| author_facet | Horemans, Jeroen Marx, Ive |
| collection | Library items |
| description | "In work-poverty has become a pressing social issue in Europe. The self-employed remain relatively uncharted terrain in this context. With about 15 percent of European workers in self-employment this group can no longer be ignored, especially since self-employment is on the rise in many countries, particularly own-account self-employment. Drawing on EU-SILC data this paper provides a systematic mapping exercise of poverty and living standards among the self-employed in the European Union. We find that the self-employed in Europe generally face significantly higher income poverty risks than contracted workers. Looking in more detail at the drivers of income poverty among the self-employed we find that in addition to lower reported earnings, lower overall work-intensity at the household level appears to be an important driver. However, while income poverty levels are quite significant among the self-employed, material deprivation rates are generally much lower. The discrepancy between income poverty measures and material deprivation measures is much larger for the self-employed than it is for employees. One possible explanation is that the self-employed can more often draw on assets accumulated over the life cycle or on business assets they control. The self-employed constitute a very mixed segment of the workforce and within-group inequality is quite significant. One group emerges as being particularly at-risk of poverty are own-account workers, substantiating worries about the rise of this form of self-employment. While the paper offers extensive descriptive analysis and some tentative explanations, an important and sizable research agenda remains." |
| format | TEXT |
| geographic | EU countries |
| id | 19286431124910046139_d181f2973d8a4a6f8aadbef4d33b9d53 |
| institution | ETUI-European Trade Union Institute |
| is_hierarchy_id | 19286431124910046139_d181f2973d8a4a6f8aadbef4d33b9d53 |
| is_hierarchy_title | Poverty and material deprivation among the self-employed in Europe: an exploration of a relatively uncharted landscape |
| language | English |
| physical | 58 p. Digital |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Bonn IZA |
| spellingShingle | Horemans, Jeroen Marx, Ive poverty self employment standard of living Poverty and material deprivation among the self-employed in Europe: an exploration of a relatively uncharted landscape |
| thumbnail | https://www.labourline.org/Image_prev.jpg?Archive=128502494678 |
| title | Poverty and material deprivation among the self-employed in Europe: an exploration of a relatively uncharted landscape |
| topic | poverty self employment standard of living |
| url | https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19286431124910046139-Poverty-and-material-deprivati.htm |