Self-employed people need more support to protect their living standards, says TUC

26 Mar 2015 01:34 PM

Responding to a new study of self-employment published today (Thursday) by the RSA, which says more protection for the living standards of the self-employed is needed, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“This welcome study shows that self-employment can be a very tough way to make a living, with lower income, and less security than employees typically have.

“While self-employment suits many, there are others who’ve been forced into it. We won’t have a proper jobs recovery until everyone who wants a permanent employee job has got one.

“With so many more people finding themselves self-employed in the post-recession economy, there’s an urgent need to strengthen the social security safety net to protect their living standards.

“The current government has made the biggest reforms to pensions in generations, but the need for pensions support for the self-employed has been overlooked. We need to do the same for the self-employed that auto-enrolment is doing for the employed, to get them saving through NEST and other low cost schemes to build on the boost the flat-rate pension is giving the self-employed.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
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RSA:  Boosting the living standards of the self-employed