David Halabisky
Project Coordinator, Inclusive and Sustainable Entrepreneurship
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD
Nearly half of young people aspire to be entrepreneurs. Yet, only 1 in 10 is working on a startup. Governments need to step up their support to unlock youth-led enterprises.
A new survey by the European Commission shows that nearly half of young people (46%) would consider starting a business, and 39% would prefer to be self-employed than working as an employee. However, youth do not always act on these ambitions. Across the OECD, only 9% of young people were working on launching a startup, and only 7% in the UK.
Entrepreneurial ambitions of young people
It’s not all about the money. While a quarter of budding young entrepreneurs dream of being wealthy, just as many wanted the ability to work on their own terms, and many more — nearly half — were primarily motivated by the freedom to follow their passion and interests. Meanwhile, one in seven instead start their business to pursue social and/or environmental goals.
Only 4 in 10 young people report that they have
the skills and knowledge to start a business.
Governments can tap into young entrepreneurial talent
Yet, young entrepreneurs face many obstacles. The vast majority are forced to rely on their own financial resources, and only 4 in 10 young people report that they have the skills and knowledge to start a business.
Governments can help. Many have established dedicated programmes to support young entrepreneurs, including training, microfinance and coaching. However, while there are examples of successful support schemes, the new OECD-EU Missing Entrepreneurs 2023 report shows the impact of public support has been mixed.
Once again, it’s not all about the money. Evaluations suggest that financial support is critical but needs to be paired with the right training and/or coaching to set young entrepreneurs on the right path.
One country that appears to be getting it right is Canada, where new business creation rates among young people were the highest in the OECD over the period 2018–22. This follows years of investing in building an entrepreneurial culture, underpinned by support programmes such as Futurepreneur, which supports aspiring young entrepreneurs with financing, online resources and mentoring through a network of more than 2,600 volunteer mentors.
As we look for ways to reignite the economy, it might just be time for a new policy mix — one that backs young entrepreneurs to forge a new future.