On Wednesday 29 April 2026, the Independent Workers' Union, Luxembourg’s association representing the self-employed, issued a white paper detailing ten major structural inequalities that affect self‑employed workers in the Grand Duchy.

Ahead of Labour Day (Friday 1 May 2026), the Independent Workers' Union stated in a press release that despite paying around 25% of their income in social security contributions, self‑employed workers remain systematically less protected than employees and are consistently excluded from fiscal incentives designed to support work and family life.

“Being self-employed is like running a marathon, you can be well prepared but unless you get help at the hard times you will never complete the race”, said Clara Moraru, president of the Union.

The Independent Workers' Union called for the launch of a serious political process on equal treatment and listed ten immediate priorities:

  1. reduce the 77‑day waiting period to 8 days for self‑employed workers;
  2. guarantee income continuity in case of illness, without the need to take out extra voluntary coverage;
  3. review minimum contribution mechanisms so as not to weaken low incomes;
  4. Create an income‑replacement system in cases of force majeure (at least 80% of the annual income declared), equivalent to short‑time work schemes for employees;
  5. acknowledge the heterogeneity of self‑employed workers and tailor support to the most vulnerable, based on revenues rather than sectors of activity;
  6. open tax justice measures to self‑employed workers on an equal basis as employees;
  7. review conditions of access to unemployment benefits to reflect the reality of self‑employment cessation and administrative deadlines;
  8. allow tax deductibility of lifelong professional training outside the current field of activity, in particular language courses and reskilling programmes, for all self‑employed workers, regardless of their country of origin or prior background;
  9. open up access to programmes such as Fit4Digital to all professional sectors, including education and services, with clear entry pathways to public procurement for self‑employed workers without a company structure, or create distinct participation categories in tenders;
  10. systematically include self‑employed workers in the assessment of social, tax and economic policies, instead of treating them as a secondary category within a system designed for salaried workers.

The Independent Workers' Union noted that the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report covering the period of 2025/2026 revealed that Luxembourg's National Entrepreneurial Context Index score had dropped from 5.0 to 4.4 out of ten between 2022 and 2026, taking the country from 20th to 30th place out of 53 economies. Only three out of thirteen framework conditions reached a sufficient level and Luxembourg ranked last (53) globally on market entry dynamics. Moreover, it detailed that around one third of new entrepreneurs in the country start a business out of necessity rather than choice, a figure that is unusually high for a high‑income economy.

The Independent Workers' Union remarked that the entire social security system was originally built for employees. Self‑employed workers were incorporated later without the rules being adapted to the reality of their work and stated: “The current rules make sense for an employee but much less so for someone who alone bears all the risks of their activity.”

Clara Moraru from the Independent Workers' Union added: “The economy is changing. AI, automation, restructuring, more people becoming independent, by choice or necessity. If we want a resilient, inclusive, sustainable economy, we need systems that work for independents. Not ones designed 50 years ago. Not ones that systematically exclude them. Self‑employed workers are not asking for special treatment. They are asking that the solidarity they fund actually protects them too, fairly and effectively.”