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The research by freelancer group, IPSE, shows that disabled self-employed people are also more likely to need financial support because in normal times, their average day rate is 12 per cent lower than freelancers who do not report having a disability. They are also more likely to find looking for work challenging.
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Overall, however, disabled people’s motivations for going into self-employment were still largely positive, such as having a greater control over their hours (52 per cent), more control over their work (51 per cent) and having a better work-life balance (47 per cent).
There are now 662,000 disabled self-employed people in the UK, an increase of eight per cent since 2018 and 41 per cent since 2013.
Inna Yordanova from IPSE said: “This research vividly shows the cost of the gaps in the Government support. Many people who are missing out on Government financial support are those who are likely to need it most. As our research uncovers, disabled self-employed people are likely to have lower earnings and to find it more difficult to get work at the best of times. During the Coronavirus crisis, they will be in particularly dire need: one of the worst groups for the government to leave out in the cold.
“There are actually likely to be even more disabled people missing out on Government support than this research suggests, as it does not account for people who are working through a limited company. Making up about 14 per cent of the self-employed workforce, disabled people are a huge and important part of the freelancing community, who must not be overlooked in the Coronavirus crisis.”
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Susie Hughes © Shout99 2020
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