Author Description

Two features of the labour market for vocationally qualified workers are explored in this technical paper: the likelihood of self-employment versus wage employment and the determinants of income. The analysis showed that demographic, occupational and local labour market characteristics all influence the likelihood of self-employment. Self-employed people were more likely to be older, married and born in a non-English speaking country. High self-employment was found for managers, males in construction and female hospitality managers. Generally, employees were shown to earn more than self-employed workers, suggesting that the self-employed are willing to sacrifice monetary income for other perceived benefits of self-employment.