Only 1 in 7 under 35s is achieving their self-employment goals

12/14/2015 - 12:55

New research from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has found that less than half of people who say they’d like to be self-employed are actually working for themselves.

A lack of support and guidance for tasks like budgeting and filing tax returns was highlighted as one of the major barriers stopping would-be self-employed workers.

The national charity also found that the gap between self-employment aspiration and achievement grows larger for adults under the age of 35.

Almost half (48%) of people aged 18-34 said that they would like to be self-employed but only 7% of people in this age bracket work for themselves.

Self-employed workers need more support

The report was informed by a series of in-depth interviews with self-employed people that the CAB used to identify a number of key challenges stopping people from achieving their self-employment goals.

These key challenges included:

  • Insufficient financial resources.
  • Gaps in the skills required, such as budgeting or business planning.
  • A lack of practical support with tasks such as completing tax returns.
  • The absence of peer support and guidance.

Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Gillian Guy explained why some people were attracted to self-employment and highlighted the need for better access to help and support. 

He said: “A lack of support is thwarting people’s ambition to be self-employed.

“For some people self-employment can be a good way to manage their work life balance or a necessary step for work in their industry. But too many are unable to access the help they need to go it alone with confidence.”

Umbrella.co.uk’s self-employment services

Umbrella.co.uk offers a number of services that can help aspiring self-employed people.

Umbrella’s limited company and cloud accounting services take most of the hassle away from tasks, such as filing tax returns, which can be very daunting to the first time self-employed worker.

Umbrella also prides itself on offering the highest quality advice and guidance whenever a customer picks up the phone.

Jon Biddle, Group Chief Operations Officer at Umbrella.co.uk, said: “It’s a real shame that more young people can’t break into self-employment. The 18-34 age bracket brings a lot of extra vibrancy into the flexible workforce.

“Starting up your own business is always daunting, but at Umbrella.co.uk we aim to make the experience as stress-free as possible. We will do everything we possibly can to provide support and guidance on the financial side of things, leaving you free to concentrate on the things that really matter.”