The UK government has announced that self-employed workers impacted by coronavirus will be eligible for grants worth up to 80 per cent of their average monthly earnings from June.
The support package, announced by UK chancellor Rishi Sunak today, means that self-employed workers and freelancers who have lost work due to the coronavirus pandemic will be able to apply to the government for a grant to replace lost earning.
As part of the package, freelancers will be able to apply for grants worth up to £2,500 for at least three months.
This broadly aligns the financial aid available to those who are self-employed with those who receive salaries, who were given similar levels of support in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which was announced last week. Package offers "the same level of support as those in work"
"The package for the self-employed I've outlined today is one of the most generous in the world that has been announced so far," said Sunak.
"It targets support to those who need help most, offering the self-employed the same level of support as those in work."
Freelancers will be able to claim 80 per cent of their average monthly profits over the past three years, up to the £2,500 mark.
To claim the grants people must have earned less than £50,000 in 2018-19, or as an average between 2016 and 2019, and have earnt the majority of their income from self-employment. The first payments will be made in June.
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