Today, the Prime Minister outlined a further support package for the self-employed.
In response to the announcement, Kate Dearden, Head of Research, Policy and External Relations, said:
“Today’s announcement to increase the financial support available to self-employed workers to 80% for November is welcome. It means self-employed workers will have parity with their employee counterparts this month.
However, behind the headlines of today’s announcement is that self-employed workers will, come December, receive only 40% of their profits in income support. This is in comparison to their employee counterparts receiving around 70% of their usual wages. Time and time again we have seen the self-employed put at a disadvantage.
We are calling on government to ensure parity of support for the self-employed not just for November, but for the remainder of this crisis.
On top of this, thousands of self-employed workers are still struggling to get by and have been excluded from financial support since March. This includes our self-employed members, of which around 50% were not eligible for support through the self-employed income support scheme and continue to receive no income from government as their work continues to dry up.
We await further information from the Chancellor on the details of the SEISS, and as we have called for since March, we urge the government to expand the scheme to include the thousands of self-employed workers who have been excluded such as the newly self-employed and those who run as limited companies.
We will continue to fight for the self-employed until the government listens and gives all self-employed workers the support they urgently need.”
Community is the collective voice for the self-employed. To join Community, visit here.
Learn more about the benefits of being a self-employed member of Community here.
Read the Prime Minster’s speech today here.
© Community Trade Union 2024