Increase in number of mothers working on self-employed or freelance terms

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jun/22/working-parents-freelance-poll

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The number of freelancing mothers in the UK has risen by 24% in the past two years, with many citing the need for more flexible hours, according to research published on Monday.

The thinktank Demos said its findings should act as a wake-up call to big employers that parents will choose to work for themselves if they cannot secure a working pattern to suit their family lives.

More than two-thirds of women surveyed, or 69%, rated flexibility of work-life balance is very important to them, compared with 55% of men, Demos said. Women were also more likely to want greater control of their hours, while men were more likely to have chosen freelancing for the money.

"For parents who want to spend time with their children, self-employment can provide the flexibility to ease back into work in a way that many workplaces do not offer," said Duncan O'Leary, Demos research director.

"There is a challenge here for big employers, too. Parents want flexibility and it seems a growing number are willing to work for themselves if they can't get it at the companies they work for."

The poll, commissioned by freelancers' trade association PCG, is part of a longer-term Demos project investigating how government and businesses can respond to the rapid growth in self-employment.

It follows official figures showing an 11.9% jump in the number of self-employed women in February to April on a year earlier. That was twice the pace of growth for self-employed men, at 6.3%.

Over the same period there was a rise of only 1.3% in the number of women employees – those working for someone else and not themselves.

Trade unions have sought to highlight the insecurity of workers who have been forced into self-employment in the tough jobs market of recent years. But some surveys have suggested a large part of the new self-employed workforce – now totalling more than 4.5 million people – have deliberately chosen that route.

O'Leary added: "On current trends, self-employed workers will soon outnumber the public sector workforce – one in seven of us now work that way. That's an important group of voters for politicians to worry about with the election less than a year away. Everything from tax to pension policy needs to be looked at to ensure it meets the needs of this growing group."