A new academic study reports that the self-employed are happier and more engaged at work than traditional employees are.
The reason, according to the study, is they have greater levels of autonomy than traditional employees.
This gives them more control over their work and a greater ability to be innovative.
The study - Work orientations, well-being and job content of self-employed and employed professionals - was conducted by professors from the Universities of Sheffield and Exeter and based on surveys of 5,000 workers in the UK, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
The research also found self-employment comes with challenges, anxiety and stress. These include longer hours and greater levels uncertainty than faced by traditional employees.
Despite these drawbacks, the self-employed reported preferring self-employment over a traditional job.
Since we covered this topic just last week, we feel like we're repeating ourselves.
But despite the overwhelming amount of research showing these results, there are still many who don't believe that the majority of self-employed are satisfied with their work and prefer self-employment over having a traditional job.
As we also pointed out last week, some of this skepticism is due to risk profiles. Most Americans think self-employment is too risky. This makes them skeptical that others would find these risks acceptable.
Another reason is a large minority - about 30% - of the self-employed would prefer having a traditional job. So it is fair to say a large number of the self-employed aren't happy.
But to repeat ourselves yet again - most are.
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