The self-employed person suffers. The man or woman can barely make ends meet financially and must regularly appeal to government support. The group of over 800 thousand self-employed people is a deplorable part of the Dutch working population. At least; for those who believe the negative reporting in the media. However, there is another side. The side of practice, as I see it. Now that I have your attention, I would like to share this with you.
The sad tone in the news reports is based on figures from the Social and Cultural Planning Office. These are the results of a study into the income of the Self-Employed Professional. A measurement value usually does not do justice to the individual. Behind the numbers are men and women in their everyday lives. They work, relax, play sports, study, raise children and sometimes take care of their elderly parents. Life fluctuates, people adapt. As has been the case for centuries.
Self-employed people did not always choose their position out of abundance, that is true. In many cases, a career as a self-employed person was simply 'next best'. The employment relationship ended, for example. Or - and this happens more often than you think - the job turned out to be difficult to combine with family life. Sometimes there are savings or an inheritance. In many cases there is a partner with an income, the housing costs are not -anymore- too high and there is still profit on the expenditure side. The figures from the SCP ignore the flexibility, adaptability and optimism of the self-employed person. People are more than the result of a sum.
Of the self-employed, 39 percent have received unemployment or disability benefits at least once, is another conclusion of the SCP. I am not a virtuoso with numbers, so I am the last to dispute the figures. But I happen to know that there are no unemployment statistics available for self-employed persons. Nor are there any reliable data on the number of disability benefits. Insurers prefer not to make these public. Moreover, we would say, of course. Many self-employed persons started from unemployment benefits, social assistance or recovery from illness. And pregnant self-employed persons are indeed entitled to benefits; maternity benefits. Did you know that 30 percent of the entire working population has used government support at some point in their lives?
The ZZP'er; that is the father or mother with care responsibilities, the part-time student or the senior who wants to keep on snoring for a few more years. He or she usually manages very well to adapt life to the circumstances, sometimes using the saved reserves, sometimes temporarily with government support. It can indeed be better. ZZP'ers must be taken more seriously and be involved in the regulations that affect them. What should certainly not happen is that the ZZP'er becomes the victim of the tax reforms. Politicians and research agencies would do well to concentrate on practice. The self-reliance of ZZP'ers must not be seen as a problem. It is a logical consequence of a difficult economic situation. The person must be leading. Not the regulations.