Self-Employment and Social Security

Abstract

The Department of Social Security commissioned the Social Policy Research Centre to review evidence about the relationship between the incomes and living standards of self-employed people. The review has been carried out using data from many sources including Australian Bureau of Statistics surveys and the administrative records of the Department of Social Security. The research reported here indicates that while the incomes of families with a self-employed member are sometimes difficult to establish and the extent of their resources equally so, some self-employed people are experiencing insecurity and that being self-employed is not always profitable. These problems present challenges for a social security system designed to reflect changing labour market realities