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.