One in ten workers is now self-employed as a growing number of people try to improve their work/life balance, a report showed today.

Older people are more likely to be self-employed, often working for themselves after they retired.

Women make up half the UK workforce but only a quarter of the self-employed total, according to research by the Office for National Statistics.

Self-employed women tend to be better educated than other female employees but there is little difference between men, the study found.

Thursday September 4, 2003