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Q: How many people work from home in the US? ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: How many people work from home in the US?
Category: Business and Money > Small Businesses
Asked by: leftright-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 02 Dec 2003 01:01 PST
Expires: 01 Jan 2004 01:01 PST
Question ID: 282540
3 part question (Please cite sources)

1. How many people work from home in the US?

2. How many people are self-employed in the US?

3. How many small businesses are there in the US? (Define small business first)

Thanks!

Request for Question Clarification by easterangel-ga on 02 Dec 2003 02:03 PST
Hi!

It seems that the official data for the statistics you are looking for
were made in the yesr 2001 or 2002. Would this be ok as an answer?

Thanks!

Clarification of Question by leftright-ga on 02 Dec 2003 12:00 PST
Yes so long as you can give us realistic estimates of the numbers for
2004 based on extrapolation of previous years' sector growth rates.

Request for Question Clarification by easterangel-ga on 02 Dec 2003 15:10 PST
The figures I found do not carry forecasts for 2004. Would this still
be ok for you?

Thanks!

Clarification of Question by leftright-ga on 02 Dec 2003 17:26 PST
Yes if you can answer tonight. Thanks!

Clarification of Question by leftright-ga on 02 Dec 2003 17:27 PST
Can you please also provide figures from a previous year so we can at
least get a rough idea of growth trends? Thanks!
Answer  
Subject: Re: How many people work from home in the US?
Answered By: easterangel-ga on 02 Dec 2003 19:30 PST
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Hi! Thanks for the question.

I will try to answer your query in a point-by-point manner.

1. How many people work from home in the US?

In the 2001 study of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it mentions that
there are 19.8 million Americans that can be classified as working
from home. The government agency however, doesn?t have a comparison
data with previous years since it mentions that it?s last survey of
1997 cannot be compared with the figures on the 2001 numbers.

?In May 2001, 19.8 million persons usually did some work at home as
part of their primary job, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor reported today.  These workers, who reported
working at home at least once per week, accounted for 15 percent of
total employment.?
   
?These findings are from a special supplement to the May 2001 Current
Population Survey (CPS).  The CPS is a monthly survey of households
conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Data on work at home were last collected in the CPS in May
1997; however, due to changes in the questions asked, much of the data
for May 2001 is not comparable with the May 1997 data.?

?WORK AT HOME IN 2001?
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/homey.nr0.htm 


In order to get a comparison of previous years and even a 2004
forecast, I found these numbers from the International Telework
Association and Council or ITAC. The figures are higher than the ones
quoted at the US government website but they have much more detailed
comparisons. Here are the figures:

1997 - 11.6 million employed teleworkers; 18.3 self-employed teleworkers 
1999 - 14.4 million employed teleworkers; 19.0 self-employed teleworkers 
2001 - 16.8 million employed teleworkers; 19.9 self-employed teleworkers 
2003 - 23.5 million employed teleworkers; 23.4 self-employed teleworkers 

Note: The website notes that you must not add the figures for the following reason.

?Note that because some survey respondents have an employer and a side
business conducted from home, the employed and self-employed numbers
cannot be added together.?

?HOME-BASED TELEWORK BY U.S. EMPLOYEES GROWS NEARLY 40% SINCE 2001?
http://www.telecommute.org/news/pr090403.htm 

If you want a graphical representation of the above numbers, you can
get them on our next link.

?US Telework Scene - stats and facts?
http://www.ivc.ca/studies/us.html 

ITAC also forecasts that there will be an estimated 30 million teleworkers by 2004.

?30 million regular teleworkers in the US estimated by yearend 2004 (ITAC 2000)?
http://www.youcanworkfromanywhere.com/infocenter/facts.htm 


----------------------------------------
2. How many people are self-employed in the US?

The US Census provides the term Nonemployer for self-employed
businesses in the US. It has the most detailed data for self-employed
businesses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not include data for
self-employed individuals.
 
2001 - 16,979,498 establishments
http://www.census.gov/epcd/nonemployer/2001/us/US000.HTM

2000 - 16,529,955
http://www.census.gov/epcd/nonemployer/2000/us/US000.HTM

1999 - 16,152,604
http://www.census.gov/epcd/nonemployer/1999/us/US000.HTM

1998 - 15,708,727
http://www.census.gov/epcd/nonemployer/1998/us/US000.HTM

1997 - 15,439,609
http://www.census.gov/epcd/nonemployer/1997/us/US000.HTM 



------------------------------
3. How many small businesses are there in the US? (Define small business first)

?The Office of Advocacy defines a small business for research purposes
as an independent business having fewer than 500 employees. Firms
wishing to be designated small businesses for government programs such
as contracting must meet size standards specified by the Small
Business Administration (SBA) Office of Size Standards. These
standards vary by industry??

FAQ
http://app1.sba.gov/faqs/faqindex.cfm?areaID=24  


If we follow this definition we can get these numbers?

2001 ? 5,640,407 businesses
2000 ? 5,635,391
1999 ? 5,591,003
1998 ? 5,562,799
1997 - 5,525,839

?Statistics about Business Size (including Small Business) from the
U.S. Census Bureau?
http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/smallbus.html#EmpSize 
 

Search terms used:                          
?small business? ?work at home? telework self-employed statistics US
                 
I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if
you would need further information.
                         
Thanks for visiting us.                         
                         
Regards,                         
Easterangel-ga                         
Google Answers Researcher

Clarification of Answer by easterangel-ga on 02 Dec 2003 19:56 PST
I have found a more direct reference to the number of self-employed
workers in the US from the SBA Office of Advocacy, another government
website.

2002 - 9,649,132
http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/profiles/03us.pdf

2001 - 9,826,000
http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/profiles/02nation.pdf

2000 - 9,907,000
http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/profiles/01us.pdf

1999 - 10,519,363
http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/profiles/00us.pdf

1998 - 10,303,000
http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/profiles/99us.pdf

These are the ones that are actually considered truly as self-employed figures.

Thanks!

Clarification of Answer by easterangel-ga on 02 Dec 2003 19:58 PST
Please disregard my figures in the #2 question and use the last one
instead for self-employed workers in the US.

Clarification of Answer by easterangel-ga on 03 Dec 2003 00:09 PST
Thanks for the kind words.

You may address your question for me by just saying that "This
Question is for Easterangel". Then I will try my best to answer it. If
I can't I'll let you know.

Thanks again!
leftright-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars

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