Forbes Covers New UCLA Study Connecting Self-Employment with Lower Heart Disease Risk

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a 2025 UCLA study found that self-employed women were 7.4% less likely to be obese, 7% less likely to be physically inactive, and 9.4% less likely to report insufficient sleep compared with women working traditional jobs. These patterns held even after adjusting for age, education, marital status, income, and health insurance coverage.

For men, self-employment was not associated with meaningful reductions in heart disease risk factors, and among Black and Hispanic men, the health advantages of self-employment were either absent or reversed.

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Self-Employment Tied To Lower Heart Disease Risk, New Study Finds