Description
This overview describes research conducted by the University of Canberra which looked at the characteristics of people with vocational qualifications who are self-employed and the differences between the self-employed and employees. 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. Higher 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.
This research overview is based on the report by Anne Daly, Vocational qualifications, employment status and income: 2006 census analysis.