Trends in self-employment in the UK: 2001 to 2015 – ONS
The level of self-employment in the UK increased from 3.8 million in 2008 to 4.6 million in 2015.
The recent rise in self-employment is the extension of a trend started in the early 2000s
Part time self-employment grew by 88% between 2001 and 2015, compared to 25% for the full-time mode.
In general, self-employed workers are broadly content with their labour market status
Brian Dear 