Women less likely to be reaping benefits of financial support ‘for self-employed workers’

Women’s Budget Group director says research draws attention to fact government has overlooked women

Researchers found just 60 per cent of eligible women claimed via SEISS, in comparison to 68 per cent of men who were eligible (Getty)

Women are less likely than men to be getting the benefits of the government’s financial support for self-employed workers, according to a new study.

Research, carried out by Women’s Budget Group, found by the end of January 2021 only 29 per cent of all claims for the government’s self-employment income support scheme (SEISS) were made by women, despite them constituting 35 per cent of self-employed workers.

The report found some 632,000 self-employed women made claims for the payments totalling just over £1.4bn by January 2021 – substantially less than the 1,557,000 claims made by men which amounted to almost £4.8bn.