03/06/2026
A cancer diagnosis changes everything, and for small business owners, the fallout goes far beyond the physical.
There are currently 750,000 working-age people in the UK living with cancer. Many of them are self-employed, running their own businesses, and facing a financial reality that most people don't talk about.
Here's the truth: if you're self-employed and you're diagnosed with cancer, you receive zero statutory sick pay. Zero. The income stops, but the outgoings don't. Business loans, staff wages, overheads, they don't pause for a diagnosis.
Research shows that small business owners with cancer face a 59% higher risk of business failure compared to those without a diagnosis. The most vulnerable period is the first five years. And with households on average £570 a month worse off following a cancer diagnosis, the financial pressure on self-employed people and small business owners is immense.
83% of cancer patients experience financial hardship. Yet the majority of support available in the UK is designed for employees, people with employers, sick pay entitlement, and HR departments in their corner.
Small business owners who are the patient? They're largely left to figure it out alone.
63,000 people with cancer in the UK want to keep working but are prevented from doing so, not because of their illness, but because the right support simply isn't in place.
That's the gap that exists. And that's the gap that Stronger Together Through Cancer is working to close.
No small business owner facing a cancer diagnosis should have to choose between their health and their livelihood.
If you would like to find out more about Stronger Together Through Cancer and the work we do to help small business owners going through cancer, go to our website 🔗 link in the comments
