Latest thinking

Self-Employment Summit

Video

03 Feb 2015

The RSA hosted a day long Self-Employment Summit, in partnership with Google and Etsy, bringing together leading thinkers to explore the causes and consequences of the boom in self-employment.

Microbusinesses outgunning large firms in the UK’s fastest growing industries

Press release

03 Feb 2015

New figures released by the RSA think tank show that microbusinesses now account for the greatest share of employment in some of the UK’s fastest growing industries, including education, computer programming and personal services. The implication is that firms with 9 employees or less are becoming increasingly important to the UK’s economic growth prospects, the RSA said.

Taking self-employment seriously

Blog

28 Jan 2015

Benedict Dellot

Self-employment is the economic trend that everyone is talking about. Why? Because the number of people in this line of work has grown by 30 per cent since 2000, with the result that a record 1 in 7 of the workforce now answer to themselves.

Boosting protection for the self-employed is a priority. But so too is raising awareness of existing entitlements

Blog

09 Dec 2014

Benedict Dellot

There was some good news for the business community in the Autumn Statement. The Chancellor promised to extend the Funding for Lending scheme, which channels low-cost finance to banks providing loans to small businesses. There was also a commitment to carry on with Small Business Rate Relief, as well as to scrap the National Insurance contributions employers have to pay for apprentices.

Government fails to convince new generation of business owners to take on staff

Press release

26 Nov 2014

Government schemes aimed at encouraging one-person businesses to take on their first member of staff have had little impact with only 3 per cent of sole traders hiring (and keeping) someone between 2007-2012, according to a report from the RSA.

Adam Lent on Small, Powerful Businesses

Video

20 Nov 2014

Dr Adam Lent is director of the RSA's Action and Research Centre

Jos de Blok on Organizational Structures

Video

17 Nov 2014

Jos de Blok visits the RSA to receive the 2014 Albert Medal for his pioneering role as founder and CEO of Buurtzorg, and to show how the movement can now spread to the rest of the world.

Pensions for the self-employed? Sometimes an ISA can be nicer

Blog

05 Nov 2014

Benedict Dellot

The ONS published a report this week showing that the proportion of self-employed men contributing to a personal pension has fallen sharply over the past 20 years. Just over 60 per cent were adding to a personal pension in 1996/7, but today the figure is only 22 per cent (see the graph below). For some reason the ONS didn’t include the details about self-employed women, but our own analysis of government data shows the picture for them is more or less the same, with around 25 per cent actively contributing to a pension.

Why the self-employed need to wake up to the threat posed by Universal Credit

Blog

25 Sep 2014

Benedict Dellot

In theory Universal Credit is a dream policy. The idea has been to streamline the welfare system, rolling six means-tested benefits into one so that work will always pay. UC is also intended to make the transition in and out of benefits more seamless, and as such accommodate workers whose income fluctuates and who find themselves flitting between jobs. In 2012 DWP estimated that an extra 300,000 more workless households would move into employment as a result of UC, and that it would save £38bn over 12 years from its inception.