The self-employed score better on mental wellbeing than active wage-earners. In the NN Longevity Report, the self-employed scored an average of 7.2 out of 10 on the Wellbeing Index, while active wage-earners scored 6.6. The NN-UGent National Happiness Survey confirms this trend: when asked how meaningful they find their lives, the self-employed gave themselves an average score of 6.9. This is considerably higher than the 6.0 given by active wage-earners.
The self-employed experience the highest level of job satisfaction. They give their job satisfaction a score of 7.3 out of 10. This is considerably higher than the 6.6 of active wage-earners. Only in the area of work-life balance do the self-employed lag behind wage-earners: 30.2% of the self-employed are dissatisfied with this balance, according to the NN-UGent National Happiness Survey. On the other hand, the self-employed score well on other important factors of job satisfaction, such as meaningfulness and utilising skills and expertise.
However, the world of the self-employed is not all sunshine and roses. In 2025, 30% of the self-employed experienced frequent-to-constant high stress levels. Furthermore, one in four (27%) consider the responsibility of running their own business a heavy burden.
Stress also translates into the risk of burnout. 15% of the self-employed are in the danger zone and at high risk. Another 12% are in the orange zone and need to be vigilant. In total, 27% of the self-employed are at an increased risk of burnout. It may be seen as a cliché, but there is a great deal of truth buried within these statistics: the self-employed are hard workers. The average self-employed person works 53 hours a week. More than one in three (35%) work six days a week as standard.
Whilst there is nothing wrong with working hard, we must be careful that the pendulum does not swing too far in the wrong direction and that the self-employed are still able to reap enough rewards from all their hard work. The risk of burnout almost doubles when the self-employed work 60 hours or more for a net monthly income of less than 3,000 euros.
