Latest findings have shown that self-employed confidence in the economy is the lowest on record, however, as a direct result many are working more and charging higher rates.
The IPSE’s recent Confidence Index found that contractors believe the biggest factors holding back their businesses are:
- The overall state of the economy (69%)
- Brexit (65.9%)
- Government tax policy relating to the self-employed (63.5%) – likely referring to the IR35 changes set to take place in the private sector next year.
Despite the record low economic and business confidence, many self-employed workers are working more and upping their rates of pay.
For example, average day rates have gone up from £407 last quarter to £447, while the time spent not working has dropped from 3.3 weeks to 2.5 weeks, which is the lowest level in two years.
Ryan Barnett, Economic Policy Adviser at IPSE, said, “Freelancers’ economic confidence has slumped to a historic low – not just for the next three months, but the next year. Their confidence in the performance of their own businesses over the next three months has also fallen to the lowest level on record.
