Edinburgh Napier University

  Since the onset of the recent economic crisis, there has been a renewed interest among policymakers across Europe in measures to stimulate self-employment and entrepreneurship as an alternative to unemployment. However, fundamental questions about policies to promote self-employment, especially among young people remain unanswered: do such policies create new jobs or just promote new forms of precarious, poor quality employment? We find that for some young people, self-employment presents an option that offers high-quality jobs. In particular, young self-employed people report that they can use and further develop their skills, and they appreciate the high degrees of autonomy and flexibility. However, the actual volume of jobs created through self-employment is low. Moreover, job quality is impaired by poor social protection, with severe negative consequences especially in the long run. Policies needed to address the high risks associated with self-employment especially in relation to unemployment, health care, and pension benefits.