Over half of self-employed workers have been in business for five years or more, but nine in 10 are on lowest income bracket
Tuesday, February 28, 2017 @ 10:36 PM
TWO-THIRDS of self-employed workers have been in their current professional situation for at least three years, and just over half – 55.2% - have been trading for five years or more, according to a report by the Federation of Associations of Autonomous [self-employed] Workers (ATA).
A total of just under 3.2 million of Spain's workforce are self-employed, of whom over 1.97 million – nearly 62% - are sole traders, whilst the remaining 1.22 million are registered as either limited or public-limited companies.
The report shows that 86% of sole traders do not earn more than the bottom band for paying Social Security, or 'national insurance' – a total flat fee of €267.03 irrespective of earnings aimed at those with a gross monthly income of a maximum of €893 a month.
Only 0.8% of self-employed non-company workers earn more than three times the lowest-band maximum, or a gross monthly income exceeding €2,679.
One in five sole traders emply at least one other person, or 21.6% of the total, a growth of 0.7% of the total on 2015, with the overall figure of one-man bands becoming employers increasing by 4% in the last year.
Over the course of 2016, Spain's self-employed – sole traders and companies – created an net average of 193 jobs a day, or 45,011 throughout the year, in addition to the 25,479 who started working for sole traders or small companies on a self-employed basis themselves, giving a total of 70,490.
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