Around 45% of young people would prefer to be self-employed rather than work as employees. This is one of the findings in the Missing Entrepreneurs 2015 report, published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission.

The new report studied the potential of inclusive entrepreneurship policies and programmes in the European Union. The report targets mainly disadvantaged and vulnerable social groups in entrepreneurship and self-employment, such as youth, women, seniors, the unemployed, ethnic minorities and immigrants, people with disabilities and other groups.

The report found that despite the high start-up rates, young entrepreneurs’ businesses don’t tend to last long.

As for self-employment, 2.7% of the unemployed people (or about 685 000 people) in 2012 started their own business in 2013.

The report also outlines the negative effect of social exclusion on self-employment and operating high-quality businesses. For example, between 2009-2013 women were half as likely to start new businesses than men (1.8% compared to 3.5%), and they were less likely to have employees in 2013 (24.0% vs. 31.1%).

The report mentions that coaching and mentoring, as forms of informal learning, are “more important than formal learning in the process of learning by entrepreneurs”. They are therefore essential in “helping entrepreneurs to learn from their day-to-day activities with the support of trusted coaches and mentors”.

The full report is available on EPALE here.

Source: DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion