Due to the pandemic-induced economic crisis, the self-employed are currently suffering considerable losses in sales and income. These income cuts affect not only the self-employed, but all members of households, who usually form an economic unit and support each other. This paper uses the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to calculate how much income the self-employed could sacrifice in order to still achieve a barely sufficient household income to maintain their living standards. Our results suggest that full-time self-employed are typically the bread-earners in their households and that, as a consequence, even moderate income losses of the self-employed often lead to problems in maintaining the living standards of households.
Policy Brief "Unternehmertum im Fokus" | 2021 Income cuts and living standards in entrepreneurial households
Schneck, S. (2021): Einkommenseinbußen von Selbstständigen und deren Konsequenzen für den Lebensstandard ihrer Haushalte, in: Welter, F.; Block, J. (Hrsg.): Unternehmertum im Fokus, Ausgabe 01/21, Bonn.