I can't be an employee. One, because I do not have the stamina to work more than 35 hours a week. Two, because I won't work for free, and my experience with being in office work and teaching in public school is that free work is expected from everyone there. Three, I need my legally entitled breaks. These days, that's rare -- employers AND co-workers create a climate of "we take lunch at our desks and we do not take breaks." Now for the difference in being self employed. I founded a secretarial service in the 1970s, which is still there. It has the same phone number, and has changed hands and street addresses several times. My business got so productive, I had to sell it because I could not manage all my accounts. I sold it for enough for a down payment on a house. I did the same kind and quality of work I did when I was an employee in offices -- the difference was that in an office I got almost exclusively critical, negative feedback on my work, and in my own business I got TONS of compliments and gratitude. Being an employee has its history in slavery. The Internal Revenue service in the USA says that if one is an employee, the employer can tell you WHAT to do; WHEN to do it; and HOW to do it. If one is an independent contractor (self employed with several accounts) these three things are negotiated. I don't like to be told what to do, with no negotiation. I cannot tolerate that, and that's why I was usually either fired or run off the job when I was an employee. After I sold my secretarial service, I taught piano and music, as an independent, self employed teacher, for 20 years. Because of my low stamina, which I now attribute to racing thoughts before I got psychiatric care, I could only have student contact hours for 20 hours a week. The rest of the time, I slept, went to the music store for pieces for my students, planned my lessons, and played the piano on my own.