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The self-employed contribute almost twice as much for their employees ...

The self-employed contribute almost twice as much for their employees as for themselves.

The latest INE (National Statistics Institute) labour cost survey suggests alarming figures for the self-employed. According to the study, a self-employed person can pay the Social Security the amount of 523.13 euros per month per dependent employee. In other words, 54.16% more than they pay for themselves.

The same approach was taken by the Association of Self-Employed Workers (ATA) in a study carried out for the MAPFRE Foundation. The report "El trabajador autónomo ante la previsión social", points out that more than 80% of the self-employed with employees in their charge, have higher contribution costs for their employees than for them.

One of the myths that have pointed for years to the self-employed, is that they contribute "little". The president of ATA, Lorenzo Amor, emphasizes in an article published on the website of the association, that both the contributions of the self-employed and its workers "come out of the same pocket".

An example to illustrate the scope of this approach is: a self-employed person who contributes on the minimum basis (283.20 euros), and who has an employee with a gross salary of 1,200 euros per month, will pay Social Security 370.8 euros for common contingencies and social insurance. In other words, 87.6 euros more than his self-employed quota.

Consequences

The situation far from boosting the SME sector (small and medium enterprises) and its acceleration, places the self-employed in a critical situation. This leads to a crisis in the generation of employment and the rise in wages.

According to a study labor costs have risen 9% in the last decade. This strengthens the data provided by the Institute of Economic Studies (IEE), where Spain ranks 11th among the European Union countries that have higher labor costs (not including wages). On average, 35% more non-wage expenses than the rest of the European Union countries.