Did you think being self employed was a young persons game? Then think again, because a new report suggests otherwise.
Actually, what they found is that 46% of the self employed people in the UK are over the age of 50, right now, as we speak, in 2019.
Exactly 2.27 million over 50’s are self employed compared to 1.45 million 10 years ago, in 2009.
“WOW” is all we can say here at Umbrella Companies. It really does go to show how popular self employment and working for yourself has become in recent years.
The report goes on to tell us that 1 in 5 of the self employed workforce is over the age of 60, with many people swapping retirement for a gig or business working for themselves.
Our opinion? Fair play to the over 60’s if you ask us. I just hope that many of them are choosing to do it because they want to…and not because they haven’t got their pension sorted out.
It wouldn’t be cool if the over 60’s and over 70’s were forced into a kind of slave self employment because they had no pension. If you see what I mean.
Hopefully they are doing it for the joy of working for themselves and making some decent cash.
According to the research, many people in the over 50, 60, and 70 bracket are turning to self employment because they feel left out and discarded by traditional employers.
A lot of employers consider you over the hill by the age of 51, and are looking for ways to get rid of you with each passing year after that.
By firing your boss and becoming your own boss then it is you who takes control of their destiny and starts calling the shots.
If you are over the age of 50 then what kind of self employment could you do? Well you could start your own business selling a product. Who knows, you might even end up on Dragons Den asking for investment.
You could even join the gig economy as a gig worker, doing something like driving an Uber or working on Fiverr.
Or why not become a freelance website designer or start your own gardening business to cut people’s bushes and trim their lawns. The list is endless really, which means you should be able to find something that you enjoy and pays well.
Not only that, but working for yourself over the age of 50 gives you a much better work/life balance, so you can spend more time with family and enjoy yourself a bit more.
