Almost 25% of all self-employed workers have been their own boss for less than two years, according to research carried out on behalf of Kensington.

As there are five million self-employed workers in the UK, this means that 1.2 million people have started working for themselves since March 2008, during which period the UK economy entered recession.

Only 6% of self-employed workers became self-employed in the 12 months leading up to March 2008 - a period before the UK economy had begun to contract.

"This research supports the anecdotal evidence that the number of self-employed workers increases during a recession when businesses reduce the number of permanent staff they employ," said Charles Morley of Kensington.