A survey by Markel revealed that 90% of self-employed professionals are happier working for themselves than they were as a full-time employee.

The study of 250 self-employed workers also showed that freedom and flexibility is the factor that the self-employed enjoy the most, with 63% of correspondents rating it as the most enjoyable factor.

Other perks of being self-employed that made the top three most-enjoyed aspects, were being your own boss and flexibility of being able to adjust work around home life.

In contrast to the high satisfaction rate of self-employed workers, full-time employees (especially those in the public sector) have had a decreasing level of job satisfaction, as noted in a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Just under 40% of self-employed workers said they didn’t miss anything from the typical work environment, and those who do rated social interaction and work outings as the aspects of being a full-time employee they miss the most.

While job satisfaction is high among the self-employed,18% or those surveyed spend one to four hours with family a week, while 20% see family for less than an hour.

Market’s digital marketing manager, Paul Aveyard, commented; “Those in full-time employment are often considered to be at an advantage compared to the self-employed and those working in the gig economy.

“But nearly all of the self-employed seem to prefer working for themselves, so much so that a quarter of them take less than five days holiday a year and well over a third spend only up to four hours a week with their family. They seem to really like their work and being their own boss.”

Main concerns of self-employed workers

Although self-employed workers have benefits such as flexible working hours and being their own boss, there are also added worries.

35% of self-employed professionals say income is their principal concern, along with lack of daily structure and job insecurity.

On the other hand, in CIPD’s survey of employees, 41% are happy with their pay, however, employees’ job satisfaction has also been reported as down year-on-year.