EN
The article addresses key challenges in socio-economic policies caused by the growing share of self-employed without employees in the total workforce in developed market economy countries. It starts with the presentation of statistical data documenting recent trends in solo self-employment in Europe. Next, it discusses the policy implications of the growing population of solo self-employed, particularly the need for re-examination of the basic foundations of entrepreneurship and labour market policies. Key characteristics and pitfalls of the current public pension scheme for the self-employed in Poland are described in the second part of the article. It concludes with the recommendations regarding the reform of retirement benefits for this segment of the workforce.