Gender differences in solo self-employment: Gendered flexibility and the effects of parenthood

With greater flexibility and control over the timing and conditions of work, solo self-employment (without employees) is seen as offering a potential solution to work-family conflict. This study examines whether this flexibility manifests itself in gendered trends among the self-employed as self-employed women undertake a larger share of unpaid domestic and caring work compared to their male and wage-and-salaried counterparts. The findings are based on data from the Irish national Labor Force Survey. We find that self-employed women are more likely to work reduced hours, to work from home and for reasons associated with caring or family responsibilities than both self-employed men and women in wage-and-salaried work. Flexibility factors are stronger determinants of self-employed status for women than men. While gender differences exist regardless of parental status, they are widest among self-employed parents of preschool children.