§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of self-employed people in the United Kingdom for each of the years 1960, 1970, 1979 and at the latest date for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe available estimates are given in the table:
Self-employed persons in the United Kingdom June Thousand 1960* 1,766 1970 2,014 1979 1,903 1981 2,118 * As the method of estimation has changed, the figure for 1960 is not strictly comparable with those for later years. The latest available labour force survey data on which to base estimates of self-employment are for 1981, but in arriving at estimates of the employed labour force my Department provisionally assumes an increase of 25,000 a quarter, since 1981, in the numbers of self-employed.