In advance of package for the self-employed, here's what replacement rates (out of work income as a share of in work income) currently look like - massive increases for employees & barely any chnage for self-employed 1/n 
86% of employees now have at least 80% of their net income replaced when out of work. Was 10% before recent covid measures. Self-employed have seen some increase in the social safety net via increases in generosity of universal credit, but small in comparison 2/n
Self-employed are more exposed to falls in work - 22% of the self-employed (comapred to 17% of employees) work in sectors that are mostly shut as a result of social distancing measures. A further 9% may need to disrupt their work to provide childcare.3/n
Policy challenge for Chancellor is significant - it's hard to know the (volatile) incomes of the self-employed, there's lots of churn in the population, plenty of scope for claiming support while still working & not straightforward to get cash to them quickly. 4/n
Any policy moves for self-employed (unincorporated businesses) may still leave some issues for company owner-managers who can access the job retention scheme but may find it doesn’t replace much income because most only pay themselves a small salary. 5/n
There's more here ifs.org.uk/publications/1… and we'll be crunching the numbers after tonight's announcement. end.
