This article is divided into three parts: the first part explains the definition of the economically dependent self-employed and proposes ideas for improving this definition of this dependency. The second part of this article is dedicated to the working conditions of the self-employed, while the last part compares the job satisfaction of the self-employed, employees and family workers.
While the Europe 2020 strategy actively promotes entrepreneurial self-employment as a means to create good jobs, policy makers at national and EU level are actively looking at better social protection for self-employed workers. Understanding this paradox requires looking beyond the ‘self-employed’ label and acknowledging it as an umbrella term covering a widely differing group of workers.