I don't understand why people always bring up self-employed workers when talking about the economy

It's ridiculous to say the economy is struggling just because self-employed businesses are failing, when in reality, individual consumption patterns, culture, and demographics are simply changing..
First of all, regarding consumption, there has been a massive shift from offline purchasing to online purchasing, or large-scale stores like Daiso have become the mainstream.
Even in dining out, the mainstream culture and corporate dining culture have completely changed, leading to a huge decrease in consumption there as well.
In the private education sector, while the amount spent per person is increasing, the number of students is fundamentally decreasing, so only the top-performing businesses are thriving.
Furthermore, the proportion of self-employed workers in Korea was disproportionately high compared to other countries.. In the current situation, regardless of the economy, the self-employment sector is bound to shrink.. If the actual economy also takes a downturn, self-employed workers could face a final, crushing blow.