self-employment

Self-employment is the state of being self–employed—earning one’s main income by getting paid directly for one’s work, such as by owning one’s own business, as opposed to being an employee and getting paid by an employer.

Self-employment is typically used in a way that refers to a person’s primary, full-time way of earning income—as opposed to working as an employee and doing freelance work on the side, for example.

The term self-employed is often used by and applied to people who consider themselves business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs.

Example: I love self-employment—my boss is amazing.

Employment is a noun form of the verb employ, which ultimately derives from the Latin implicāre, meaning “to engage” (the word engage is sometimes used to mean “to hire” or “to employ”). The self part of the word is used in the same way in other words like self-government and self-control.

Most people who are self-employed will tell you self-employment has its pros and cons. On the positive side, you’re your own boss. But it’s often a lot of responsibility and risk. People who are self-employed don’t get many of the benefits associated with being a full-time employee of a company or organization. Self-employment doesn’t necessarily mean you work alone—many self-employed business owners employ other people.

What are some other forms related to self-employment?

• self-employed (adjective)
• employment (noun)

What are some words that share a root or word element with self–employment? 

• unemployment
• underemployment
• employ
• employer
• employee
• self-government
• self-control

What are some words that often get used in discussing self–employment?

• job
• business
• owner
• boss
• freelance
• worker
• gig economy

Self-employment is often used in the context of people’s status as workers, such as for tax purposes.

Perk of self-employment: Choose your own hours!
Drawback of self-employment: There will be 12 of them today! https://t.co/LA7fFB9GNx

— Iron Spike (@Iron_Spike) May 1, 2017

Day 1 of 100% self employment
Pros: the world is my office
Cons: the world is my office

— maobaby (@maobaby) September 27, 2018

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will be extended, with a second and final grant in August. Find out more here ⬇️https://t.co/cxxQCmD6t5 pic.twitter.com/g9VALuLzzM

— HM Revenue & Customs (@HMRCgovuk) June 1, 2020

Is self-employment used correctly in the following sentence?

As self-employment becomes more popular, fewer people have a traditional 9-to-5 office job.