That's the case in many European countries with sophisticated welfare systems. In Austria, we can pay extra (I think ~1.5% of income) as self-employed to get unemployment benefits but I don't know how popular that option is in practice.
Personally (as a highly employable, fairly senior software developer, so I'm unlikely to be out of a job as long as I can work) what's worse than lack of unemployment benefit is dealing with times of sickness. I suffered from Lyme disease for about 2 1/2 years until it was diagnosed properly and treated, and in addition to the reduced income due to being unable to work at times, and the extra cost of healthcare (despite the insurance it's not exactly free) in Austria, they still expect you to pre-pay taxes and pension & health insurance contributions based on your earnings 1-2 years ago. In theory you can claim some money for a few weeks if you get sick, but (a) you have to completely shut down any business activity for that time and (b) you have to be declared unable to work by a doctor. (Unlikely, considering the doctors were all telling me there was nothing wrong with me and it was "stress"…)
A basic income would at least help deal with the reduced income due to sickness & extra costs due to healthcare. The pre-payment aspect is probably peculiar to Austria and apparently frequently bankrupts profitable small businesses.
Personally (as a highly employable, fairly senior software developer, so I'm unlikely to be out of a job as long as I can work) what's worse than lack of unemployment benefit is dealing with times of sickness. I suffered from Lyme disease for about 2 1/2 years until it was diagnosed properly and treated, and in addition to the reduced income due to being unable to work at times, and the extra cost of healthcare (despite the insurance it's not exactly free) in Austria, they still expect you to pre-pay taxes and pension & health insurance contributions based on your earnings 1-2 years ago. In theory you can claim some money for a few weeks if you get sick, but (a) you have to completely shut down any business activity for that time and (b) you have to be declared unable to work by a doctor. (Unlikely, considering the doctors were all telling me there was nothing wrong with me and it was "stress"…)
A basic income would at least help deal with the reduced income due to sickness & extra costs due to healthcare. The pre-payment aspect is probably peculiar to Austria and apparently frequently bankrupts profitable small businesses.