Hey Peter; so interesting study (and Creative Commons way it's so nice). In Spain so many freelance people needs a private insurance too but (in my opinion) this problem it's balanced for the chance to try this lifestyle based on job freedom and good part of leisure time.
Good job and greetings. ----- [www.coworkingenelche.wordpress.com] On 7 mayo, 09:48, Peter Bihr <peter.b...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hey all, > > Christoph Fahle <http://betahaus.de/team/> of Betahaus > Berlin<http://betahaus.de> and > I have been asked so many times about who works at Betahaus and how folks > are doing there. (Rather, the question usually is something along the lines > of "are they poor?") We didn't think so, so we put together a little study > and just asked. The focus was on social and financial security. We conducted > the study in German, so I translated the executive summary and posted it on > my blog <http://www.thewavingcat.com/2010/05/06/study-are-coworkers-poor/>. > > Here’s a translation of the *executive summary*: > > *Betahaus is a central work space for freelancers in Berlin, from > so-called Digital > Bohemia <http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitale_Boheme#Digitale_Boh.C3.A8me>to > laptop knowedge workers. The large majority of Betahaus users is > freelancing or just founding a company. (A few full-time employed are the > exception that proves the rule.) Beyond that, the residents of Betahaus can > hardly be pigeon-holed as the Betahaus workforce is a very diverse, > heterogeneous group regarding income (below €1.800 to over €5.000), age > (22-47 years) or profession (design, media, mechatronics…).* > > *If you were to depict a typical Betahaus resident based on the average of > all data we found, he would be male, 25-35 years old, freelancing and > working full-time. He has health insurance, but no pension plan and hardly > has any insurance besides that, but feels sufficiently socially and > financially secure. From the government he wishes less bureaucracy, more > flexible support and less disadvantages compared to full-time employees. But > not just the average, but particularly the statistical outliers find a home > at Betahaus, from precarious post-grad to well-earning startup founder or > regular employee who is looking for an office away from his office.* > > *In the study we paid particular attention to social and financial security. > We came to some remarkable and partly alarming results: Just about 40 per > cent of respondents have an all-round insurance package, i.e. health > insurance, pension plan and at least one more relevant insurance > (occupational disablement insurance, additional private pension plan or life > insurance). Still, more than half feels sufficiently financially and > socially secure.* > > *Asked for their vision of a perfect social security system, the respondents > criticized Germany’s social security system and expressed wishes aimed at > politicians: Freelancers are structurally disadvantaged compared to > regularly employed, and Betahaus residents wish equal treatment. This > includes less bureaucracy as well as more flexibility in the social security > system: flexible rates of contributions, the option to exit or change > membership in the social insurances, unbureaucratic support in bridging > temporary crises or phases of client acquisition. The wish for the option to > easier switch between regular employment and freelancing was expressed, > particularly in regards to pension plans and health insurance. Particularly > young freelancing parents have a hard time as the system for financial > support for parents is aimed primarily at regular employees.* > > *We, the authors, are part of the demographic we studied here. In addition > to the mere interpretation of the data we would like to offer some > perspectives and food for thought in the last chapter. These inputs are > aimed as much at politicians as they are at the freelancing community:* > > 1. *Equal treatment of freelancers and regular employees* > 2. *Make the first steps easier* > 3. *Allow flexible switching between employment and freelancing (and > back)* > 4. *Flexible micro credits* > 5. *Support young freelancing parents* > 6. *Support coworking spaces* > 7. *Collaboration instead of competition* > > The study is licensed under Creative Commons > (by-nc-sa)<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/de/deed.en>, > so share as you wish. > > The whole report is available here (in German): Betahaus Kurzstudie > “Soziale_Absicherung” > (PDF)<http://www.thewavingcat.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Betahaus_Kurzs...> > > Here's my blog post with the whole executive summary (in > English):http://www.thewavingcat.com/2010/05/06/study-are-coworkers-poor/ > > And here's the "official" blogpost on the Betahaus site (in > German):http://www.betahaus.de/2010/05/kurzstudie-zur-lage-der-nation/ > > Cheers from Berlin, > > Peter > > ________________________________ > > Peter Bihr > > Web Strategies with a focus on > Web 2.0, Blogs & Social Media > > Blog:www.thewavingcat.com > Twitter:www.twitter.com/thewavingcat > > email: pe...@thewavingcat.com > fon: +49.30.20896430 > mobile: +49.176.32108856 > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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