Self-employed numbers boosted by benefit cuts, suggests Bank of England
24 April 2014
The number of self-employed workers in the UK has been boosted by cuts in benefits, the Bank of England has suggested.
Thu, 24 Apr 2014The number of self-employed workers in the UK has been boosted by cuts in benefits, the Bank of England has suggested.
According to minutes released by the Bank’s monetary policy committee, some of the 200,000 rise in self-employment in the three months to January “had come about in reaction to benefit caps, changes in pension entitlements and rules surrounding access to in-work benefits”, reports The Daily Telegraph.
Under the coalition government’s welfare reforms, designed to make work pay, households can claim no more than £26k a year in benefits.
According to official figures, the number of self-employed workers has risen by 621,000 since 2010, accounting for more than a third of the £1.5m jobs created.
According to minutes released by the Bank’s monetary policy committee, some of the 200,000 rise in self-employment in the three months to January “had come about in reaction to benefit caps, changes in pension entitlements and rules surrounding access to in-work benefits”, reports The Daily Telegraph.
Under the coalition government’s welfare reforms, designed to make work pay, households can claim no more than £26k a year in benefits.
According to official figures, the number of self-employed workers has risen by 621,000 since 2010, accounting for more than a third of the £1.5m jobs created.
