Time Use of the Self‐Employed

Abstract

SUMMARYIt is a well‐documented empirical regularity that it is more satisfying to be self‐employed than to work as an employee for an organization. A large part of this difference in job satisfaction is attributed in the literature to the strong perception of independence by the self‐employed. In this paper we study people's time use as a source of entrepreneurial independence. By making use of disaggregated sequential microdata on people's time use, we are able to document that the self‐employed work longer effective hours, as well as more in the evenings and weekends, than those employed by an organization. Even though being able to decide when to do one's work may be a sign of flexibility in time use, the self‐employed have less pure leisure and are less frequently absent from work in general and when sick on weekdays in particular. Moreover, we document that the self‐employed who have small children are more likely to work after 5 p.m., when the com‐munal day‐care centres close. Based on these findings it is not surprising that the self‐employed perceive that they are more often under time pressure and in a hurry than those employed by an organization.