Freelancer - Drawbacks

Drawbacks

The major drawback is the uncertainty of work and thus income, and in lack of company benefits such as a pension, health insurance in nations without socialized medicine, paid holidays and bonuses. Many freelancers, especially in journalism, regard themselves as having greater income security through the diversity of outlets—the loss of any one of which leads to the loss of only a portion of income, rather than its totality as with salaried employees.

Author and poet Ernest William Hornung (1866–1921) used the term in "The Gift of the Emperor" to describe his woeful state as a freelancer in those days, "I warmed to my woes. It was no easy matter to keep your end up as a raw freelance of letters; for my part, I was afraid I wrote neither well enough nor ill enough for success."