Workers around the world are hungry for autonomy.
Some 74.6 percent of adults want to be their own boss, according to a survey of 5,105 adults from 28 countries published by international money transfer firm Remitly on Friday. Yet while the majority of adults want to be self-employed, only a third of them anticipate taking steps toward self-employment in the next year.
“Many people are drawn to the independence and flexibility that entrepreneurship can offer, but ongoing financial uncertainty is making it harder to make the leap,” Remitly Business GM Ankur Tiwari said in a statement.
Kenya had the highest rate of individuals who preferred self-employment, the survey said.
Spain had the lowest rate of adults who preferred to be their own boss at 29.5 percent.
Rounding out the rest of the top five countries with the most prevalent desire for self-employment are South Africa (92.7 percent), Morocco (90.7 percent), India (90 percent), and Mexico (84 percent).
The United States had the seventh-biggest interest in being self-employed at 82.1 percent.
After Spain, Belgium (30.2 percent), Chile (31 percent), Hungary (31.2 percent) and the U.K. (31.3 percent) had the lowest rate of those who want to work for themselves.
Motivations for self-employment skewed toward the freedom workers perceived they’d have without a boss. Some 72.7 percent of respondents said their reason for wanting self-employment was “more independence and control over how I work,” the survey found. Second among top motivations was “greater flexibility over when and where I work,” followed by “better work-life balance.”
Greater job security and benefits, such as pension and sick pay, were the top motivation – 61.7 percent – for those who preferred traditional employment. Lower financial risk was the second-most popular motivation at 61.1 percent, followed by not wanting the responsibility of running a business (56 percent), the survey found.
By the end of 2025, roughly 16.8 million Americans were self-employed – 10.2 million of them ran unincorporated businesses, according to tax consultancy Carry.
Some 28 percent of the American workforce simultaneously works traditional and self-employed jobs, according to a May survey from marketing automation platform Omnisend.
Side hustles, which can be the first step in a transition to self-employment, have been an essential part of consumers’ efforts to generate more income as gas and other common expenses continue to climb amid a soaring inflation rate.
“An extra $200-$500 a month can cover groceries, utilities, or debt payments,” Omnisend ecommerce expert Marty Bauer said in a statement. “That makes even low-earning side hustles feel worthwhile."
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