John McDonnell response to IFS research showing that the self-employed are more likely to be in poverty

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to IFS research showing that the self-employed are more likely to be in poverty and to be in hard hit sectors than employees, said:

"Many self-employed people have been hit hard in the pocket by the Coronavirus crisis and have been calling for proper protection of their incomes by the Government.

"The self-employed are no less entitled to support than other workers: as this research shows, they are more likely than other employees to be in poverty, and are more likely to have to take on childcare obligations.

"After days of delay and uncertainty the Government must announce a package today that can be delivered quickly, giving the self-employed the same level of security as other workers."

Ends

Notes to Editors:

• The IFS briefing note on the self-employed is online here: https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14768
• It shows that the self-employed are more likely than employees to work in sectors seeing large falls in demand (22% for self-employed compared with 17% for employees).
• Almost a quarter of self-employed workers were in relative poverty in 2017–18 (23%), after deducting housing costs, compared to just 11% of employees. 
• Almost 10% (9%) of the self-employed have a young child (aged under ten) and no key workers or non-working adults in the family, so may have to disrupt their work to look after children.
• 0.8 million of the self-employed are in the construction sector