Employment in times of trouble – supported self-employment as a liberating and transformatory practice

Keith Bates and Harriet Cameron

Chapter 6 in Disability in a Turbulent Era, 2026, pp 74-83 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: As the UK government redoubles its efforts to get more disabled people into work employment, productivity and economic activity continue to be used as the main proxies for human value. Yet more and more disabled people are looking for alternative ways to navigate the precarious employment landscape. This chapter explores the role self-employment plays in developing employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities and the employment, training and support arrangements that many have found helpful in setting up their own business. Self-employment is generally considered to be the state of working for oneself or owning a business, rather than working for an employer. Drawing on previous research into the nature of entrepreneurship (Bates, 2022), it acknowledges the tensions inherent in introducing employment activation programmes amid confusing and unsettling welfare reforms and offers the centrality of Hope as a facilitator of change. Here we note the power of Supported Employment as a voluntary, person-centred, intensive model of employment support and how its values might benefit job seekers in the context of Connect to Work – the UK government's newly announced activation scheme.

Keywords: Supported self-employment; Inclusive entrepreneurship; Learning disability; Job coaching; Hope (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035347247
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