Our report this year is deep - and goes to identify a large number of challenges and gaps - but we've identified eight key findings which are essential to be aware of.
Mental health baselines unchanged, but significant perceived decline in wellbeing for many.
Overall mental health scores in 2025 showed no significant change from 2024 - despite economic challenges. Only 22% of respondents reported "Good" mental health, while 28% reported "Poor" mental health. However, 40% of the group felt their mental health declined during 2025, while only 24% reported an improvement.
Unplanned self-employment is rising sharply — and it carries much higher mental health risk.
Nearly 30% of those recently joining self-employment felt they had little other choice but to become self-employed, and this number has doubled in the last two years. Over 50% of unplanned freelancers reported a decline in their mental health due to self-employment.
Financial uncertainty was one of the biggest drivers of poorer mental health in 2025, and is a systemic factor of self-employment
Around 45% saw their income fall in 2025, over 50% experienced significant periods with no income, and nearly 70% of those say that negatively impacted their mental health, despite irregular income being a systemic feature of self-employment.
Isolation is a widespread and largely hidden problem.
Loneliness among our group of self-employed is around three times higher than the general population, with 19.2% feeling lonely “often or always”, compared to ~7.7% in the wider population. This makes support communities essential, not optional.
Significant numbers of the self-employed aren't sure where to turn for support
Only 21.6% feel they have adequate mental health support in the context of work, and among new freelancers, around 6 in 10 say they do not have adequate support — aligning with the first two years being both the most vulnerable period and when most new businesses fail. 94% of our group reported they do not feel supported by the government.
Rest is vital but often a privilege.
76% of freelancers took less time off than the legal minimum offered to employees, and those taking no time off are over four times less likely to report good mental health than those taking more than employment-equivalent rest. Not all freelancers can afford to take time off from work.
Poor client behaviours causes major impact on mental health
39.3% of our group said they felt disrespected at some point during the year. Ghosting was experienced by almost 50% of our group, 67.5% of freelancers dealt with late payments, and 81.2% of those affected reported it as a direct source of stress.
Low optimism towards 2026, but positive impact for most who join
Career optimism remains low, with only 33% of the group feeling generally positive about self-employment in 2026. Despite the challenges, many individuals see self-employment as a path to better wellbeing, with 54% of respondents reporting that working this way has improved their mental health overall.
