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<p>Solo or ‘freelance’ self-employment is becoming a more popular form of self-employment in the labour market. In some jurisdictions such as the UK, this growth is being attributed to rising numbers of women – and women with children in particular - seeking the flexibility and autonomy of freelance work as a response to shortages of flexibility in wage-and-salaried employment. Yet little is known about how these trends might be occurring in Ireland and who might be represented in this small but growing cohort of workers. This research uses Labour Force Survey data to explore trends in female solo self-employment in Ireland between 2003 and 2019 and key variables are drawn upon to develop a profile of this underexplored labour market group. The analysis highlights that while growth in solo self-employment rates has been slow and numbers still relatively small, it is increasingly made up of highly educated and professional women in relatively high-paid sectors opting for flexible working arrangements.</p>
</abstract>

Solo or ‘freelance’ self-employment is becoming a more popular form of self-employment in the labour market. In some jurisdictions such as the UK, this growth is being attributed to rising numbers of women – and women with children in particular - seeking the flexibility and autonomy of freelance work as a response to shortages of flexibility in wage-and-salaried employment. Yet little is known about how these trends might be occurring in Ireland and who might be represented in this small but growing cohort of workers. This research uses Labour Force Survey data to explore trends in female solo self-employment in Ireland between 2003 and 2019 and key variables are drawn upon to develop a profile of this underexplored labour market group. The analysis highlights that while growth in solo self-employment rates has been slow and numbers still relatively small, it is increasingly made up of highly educated and professional women in relatively high-paid sectors opting for flexible working arrangements.

Who are solo self-employed women? Analysis of the trends and characteristics of solo self-employed women in Ireland 2003–2019

Dept. Management and Marketing, Cork University Business School

The Irish Journal of Management

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Solo or ‘freelance’ self-employment is becoming a more popular form of self-employment in the labour market. In some jurisdictions such as the UK, this growth...

Who are solo self-employed women? Analysis of the trends and characteristics of solo self-employed women in Ireland 2003–2019

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Jul 06, 2021

Page range: 42 - 60

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijm-2021-0006

Keywords
self-employment, freelance work, gender, work-life balance, flexible work

© 2021 Lauren Bari, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Who are solo self-employed women? Analysis of the trends and characteristics of solo self-employed women in Ireland 2003–2019

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Jul 06, 2021

Page range: 42 - 60

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijm-2021-0006

Keywordsself-employment, freelance work, gender, work-life balance, flexible work

© 2021 Lauren Bari, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
self-employment, freelance work, gender, work-life balance, flexible work