IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) has responded to new ONS statistics showing a 154,000 drop in the number of self-employed, warning it is an “alarming and avoidable” fall.
IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) has responded to new ONS statistics showing a 154,000 drop in the number of self-employed, warning it is an “alarming and avoidable” fall.
Last month’s ONS statistics revealed that the number of self-employed had fallen by a record 238,000 in the three months to August. With numbers continuing to fall this month, IPSE has warned the drop is likely because of gaps in self-employed support during coronavirus.
It has called on the government to prepare a “fair, flexible and focused” extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme for the second wave.
Derek Cribb, CEO of IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed), said: “The labour market statistics this month reveal an alarming and avoidable drop in self-employment.
“In a recession, we would usually expect self-employment to be flourishing as companies seek out flexible expertise. Instead, we are now seeing a drastic and continuing decline in the sector. This is almost certainly because of the glaring gaps in government support: next to nothing was done for limited company directors and the newly self-employed and now we are seeing the consequences.
“The self-employed are vital for economic recovery, but huge swathes of the sector have been undermined and left behind. As a second wave of coronavirus approaches, government must do more. We urge the government to prepare a fair, flexible and focused extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme – for the sake not only of the self-employed themselves, but also the economy.”
IPSE's Fred Hicks calls on the government to clarify who counts as a ‘working person' – as growing ambiguity leaves the self-employed increasingly uneasy about th...
The UK's self-employed membership body, IPSE, has praised the new Pensions Commission's "long-overdue" recognition of the self-employed pensions problem.
Flexibility is one of the greatest advantages of the self-employed lifestyle. In this blog, financial planning experts Chase de Vere explain how, with the right s...