自僱就業者的工作與健康

在台灣企業無薪假、裁員潮頻傳之際，鼓勵民眾（特別是婦女、中高齡等弱勢就業族群）自行創業，是政府解決失業問題的一項重要策略。比起受僱者，自僱就業者（包括雇主與自營作業者）更直接暴露在市場競爭與景氣變動下，其社會背景、工作和健康問題卻很少受重視。本文整理國內外自僱工作相關文獻與統計資料，發現台灣自僱者佔就業人口的比例近年逐漸略微下降，和受僱者、雇主相較，自營作業者的年齡較長、教育程度偏低、在女性中離婚、喪偶的比例較高；這般變遷趨勢與就業競爭較不利的人口屬性，和國外先進國家的狀況有明顯差異。工作特性上，自僱者的工作量與報酬不像受僱者那樣受到勞動法令規範，自僱者常需在時間與身心方面高度投入工作，有些研究指出其工作滿意度較高，但工時較長、自覺工作壓力與疲勞較為嚴重，並遭遇較大工作與家庭的衝突。自僱工作有不同於受僱型態的工作環境、壓力來源、健康與家庭的風險，政策應加以關切並提供協助，以免自僱者為拼經濟犧牲了健康。

關鍵字

自僱工作；自營作業者；創業；工作壓力；職業健康

並列摘要

Corporations in Taiwan are offering unpaid leave, downsizing staff, and encouraging entrepreneurship-especially among disadvantaged employment groups such as women and middle or advanced-aged groups. This has become one of the government's priorities in dealing with the problem of unemployment. Compared to salaried workers, self-employed individuals (including employers and own-account workers) are more exposed to market competition and economic fluctuations; however, their social background, work, and health problems have seldom been examined. Reviews of both the domestic and international literature and statistical data concerning self-employment show that the percentage of self-employed individuals in Taiwan has declined slightly. When compared with employers and salaried workers, own-account workers tend to be older and less educated and, among them, females tend to have a higher rate of divorce or being widowed. The tendency for this transition and job competition is disadvantageous to those self-employed individuals whose situation is significantly different from that in other developed countries. With regard to job characteristics, salaried workers have an advantage over self-employed individuals who have no standard workloads, no standards for remuneration, and often devote time and mental and physical efforts into work without any legal protection. Some studies have indicated that, although self-employed individuals enjoy a higher level of job satisfaction, their working hours are longer, work stress and burnout rates are higher, and they face a higher number of work-family conflicts. There are differences in the work environment, causes of stress, and risks to health and family between self-employed and salaried workers. More policies to care for self-employed individuals and to offer them support are needed since they sacrifice their health for wealth.

並列關鍵字

self-employment ； own-account workers ； entrepreneurship ； work stress ； occupational health

參考文獻

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