What are the impacts of COVID-19 on self-employment and what policies are needed?

The OECD held an initial webinar in April 2020 in order to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on the self-employed and to identify the policy measures governments were taking to support them. [...] Robert Blackburn (University of Liverpool, United Kingdom) made a presentation that covered the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the self-employed, the policy response and the effectiveness of the policy response. [...] The COVID-19 pandemic has had an uneven impact across countries and over time due to the spread of the virus and the type of containment measures. [...] He underlined the importance of the policy issue, underlining that the self-employed account for 15% of the labour market and they employ even more people. [...] What’s next? The forthcoming Missing Entrepreneurs 2021 report will provide further analysis on the impact of COVID-19 on the self- employed and the effectiveness of the policy response.