Self-employment offers an on-ramp for Americans, especially women, to craft fulfilling careers and healthier lives. Small businesses, which are the backbone of our nation’s and Missouri’s economies, are composed of and depend on self-employed workers. New, ill-advised regulations out of Washington threaten to upend self-employment by robbing millions of people of their freedom to work for themselves. We cannot let this stand.
Working for oneself is a vital choice that American men and women make to pursue a passion, help their communities, or support themselves given their unique circumstances. Missouri is home to 548,000 small businesses, which make up 99% of all businesses in the state. Four in 10 Missouri workers are employed by a small business. Yet most small businesses are solo enterprises; 8 in 10 small businesses do not employ workers. Close to half (44%) of the small businesses in the state are women-owned, and about 1 in 10 are owned by racial minorities.
Missouri mirrors national statistics: 99.9% of all U.S. firms are small businesses, a third of small businesses are women-owned, and over 80% of small enterprises operate without staff.
Half of the 70+ million independent workers in America are women.
Self-employment confers benefits, such as better health outcomes, greater satisfaction, and more security than traditional jobs. …