De werk-privébalans van zelfstandig ondernemers
The work-life balance of the self-employed The aim of this article is to explain the work-life balance experiences of different types of self-employed workers across countries. The findings in this article are based on a PhD dissertation that includes six separate, published studies all with a cross-national comparative research design (Annink, 2017). These six studies include a literature review, an analysis of state support for the work-life balance of the self-employed, three empirical studies based on the European Social Survey (2004 and 2010) and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2013), and a qualitative study based on interviews with 50 independent professionals in three countries (the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden). The main conclusion is that different types of self-employed workers have different work-life balance experiences because their experiences are influenced by work and business characteristics and shaped by the national context in which they run their business. In particular, necessity self-employment and running a consumer-oriented business appear to have a negative effect on balance. Furthermore, the work-life balance of self-employed workers is shaped by policy, economic and cultural contexts.