Do people turn to freelancing to keep the wolf from the door?

In the quarter ending November 30th last year, an additional 110,000 people joined the ranks of the unemployed. Interestingly, over that same period, the number of self-employed individuals increased by more than 100,000. We now have 4.14 million people in the UK who are self-employed, representing more than 14% of the country's total employment.

The CIPD claims the majority of these new freelancers differ from the traditional sole trader. A lot of them work for less than 30 hours a week and in sectors where the self-employed have not previously ventured; such as education, finance, IT and social security.

More than two out of three freelancers do work in excessive of 30 hours a week, 88% of those who have just joined the ranks of the self-employed work for less than 30 hours. There has also been a marked increase in the number of women who are going it alone since the start of the economic crisis in 2008.

The CIPD believes that this rise in self-employment is due more to people looking for odd jobs to keep them afloat, rather than a surge in entrepreneurial activity.

Dr John Philpott, the CIPD's chief economic adviser, said the majority of those who have recently become self-employed would probably leap at the chance of a permanent job if one became available.

The typical freelancer in the UK is still a skilled tradesman, professional or manager, who works long hours. It's good to see that more people are turning to self-employment when the labour market is weak, but it does not suggest a surge in genuine entrepreneurial enthusiasm.

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