Independent professionals (IPros) and well-being: An emerging focus for research?

In this paper, the author, a freelance writer and researcher who has worked in this way for over 30 years, draws on his own experience of independent working to present freelancing and well-being as an important yet neglected area of research. The paper is therefore presents a brief overview of the context of freelancing, particularly in the United Kingdom and Europe as this is the working environment of the author. This overview is blended with a review the existing research on the topic of freelancer well-being. The aim is to reveal the questions and issues that the author feels encompass well-being in this context as well as to highlight some recent initiatives where independent workers and their clients have worked together to support key areas of their vulnerability compared with those in full-time employment. Setting this often intensely personal perspective set against the wider context of academic and practitioner research reveals that, in contrast to some the common public opinion that freelance and contract work is ‘second-rate’ option, many independent professionals are happy about the way they work and experience high levels of job satisfaction. However, what does also emerge is that beyond local professional bodies and associations, many feel almost completely unsupported. Of greatest concern were reports of being treated with neglect and even suspicion by policy and law makers. The hope is that this paper heralds the beginnings of a wider research agenda into this important but neglected aspect of the independent professional workforce.