Self-Employment in Britain: Recent Trends and Current Issues

Catherine Hakim
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Catherine Hakim: Department of Employment Steel House Tothill Street, LONDON SW1H 9NF

Work, Employment & Society, 1988, vol. 2, issue 4, 421-450

Abstract: This paper reviews trends in self-employment up to the 1980s and beyond, and looks at the composition and characteristics of the self-employed workforce. It examines the causes of the current rise in self-employment - in particular employers' strategy of transferring jobs and functions from their `core' workforce of full-time permanent employees to a `peripheral' workforce which includes self-employed labour-only subcontractors as well as part-time workers and people with limited duration contracts of employment. It looks at the recent inflow to self-employment - in particular the importance of involuntary entrants. It examines the ideology of self-employment, and whether it differs substantively from the work orientations of employees. Problems of definition and measurement are summarised. The review concludes with pointers for further research - both qualitative and quantitative.

Date: 1988
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:2:y:1988:i:4:p:421-450

DOI: 10.1177/0950017088002004002

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