ANDRE NIJSEN is with the Economic Research Institute for Small-and Medium-sized Business, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands. Although they probably constitute major employment groups in most countries, the position of the self-employed is usually ignored in favour of study of small business and other entrepreneurial ventures. This paper tries to redress some of the balance by examining the role of the self-employed in the economy of The Netherlands, where they account for 15 per cent of civilian employment. It also examines the self-employed in the fiscal and social security systems, and the effects of government measures on the income of the self-employed. It analyses the income/retum ratio for self-employed people, concluding that the average profit income of the self-employed is insufficient in general to justify the various functions of this income and illustrates many of the problems faced by the unincorporated business, especially as most government activity is directed towards the incorporated company.