Precarious versus Entrepreneurial Origins of the Recently Self‐Employed: Work and Family Determinants of Canadians’ Self‐Employment Transitions

We investigate the wage work and family determinants of self‐employment entry using a panel study of Canadian workers (Canadian Work Stress and Health Study). Rather than treating the self‐employed as a homogenous group—a characterization that conflates entrepreneurial ventures with lower quality and more precarious self‐employment—we disaggregate self‐employment entrants by occupational class. Descriptive analyses show that the nonprofessional …