The roots of The Independency Co. started with Leapers, originally a community, and today a research focused project exploring and supporting the mental health of freelancers.
This annual work produces deep insights into the challenges and gaps faced by freelancers in the UK, and informs much of our work across resources and engagement.
In 2025, we spoke to over 1000 freelancers to ask about their wellbeing in 2025, and discovered 40% of our freelancers felt their mental health declined, and nearly 30% of those recently joining self-employment felt they had little other choice but to become self-employed.
Whilst the majority of freelancers see their mental health improve, that’s only if they’re putting the structure in place to support themselves. Those who don’t know where to turn, who didn’t chose to step into freelancing, who don’t have a support system, see significant declines.
Our report highlights hidden issues around isolation, confidence, and the growing number of those who didn’t choose to step into freelancing, but find themselves feeling like they had little other choice. And for new freelancers, a lack of resources in the first few years is causing a real issue.
But there’s positive news too - when freelancers are members of communities, when they have a clear idea of their offering, when they actively work with others, most freelancers say that working this way improves their wellbeing.
Over the course of 2026, we’ll be using this research to continue to write and publish resources for freelancers, based upon these insights to provide tangible support and advice for how to navigate challenges in self-employment; and working closely with partners and policymakers to try and make systemic change in to the way the self-employed are supported.
The full report is available here: https://leapers.co/research/2025/report
With huge thanks to With Jack for supporting this year’s research, without whose support, the work would not have been possible.
And of course, to everyone who shared their insights and stories - thank you for taking part. This work really matters, and has such a positive impact towards making things better for all of us.
We’ll be following up with a series of posts on what the research means and implications for freelancers, hirers, platforms, government and community owners. Stay tuned.
