The self‐employed without employees—autonomous or atypical?

The 1980s and early 1990s have witnessed a substantial growth in the self‐employed component of the national labour‐force. Of these, around two‐thirds are one‐person businesses without employees. This article identifies an occupational grouping which occupies a position at the extreme point on a continuum of small business independence, virtually indistinguishable from that of employees.