How and why do people choose a status of self-employed?

The 2004 Flash Eurobarometer on Entrepreneurship provides answers and focuses on other issues such as the attraction of self-employed status for non-self-employed people, the experience in setting up a business, the most feared risks and an evaluation of entrepreneurial difficulties. This report also provides comparisons with USA population.

In this regard, this report includes following findings:

  • As regards the socio-demographic characteristics of the European Union respondents:
  1. 51% of men would prefer to be self-employed, compared with only 39% of women.
  2. Younger people are more tempted than older people by the idea of becoming self-employed (55%). Moreover, this preference tends to diminish with age.
  3. Respondents who are still studying appear to be more tempted by self-employed status (58%).
  4. Family background can play a positive role as regards a propensity for self-employed status: interviewees with self-employed parents are more entrepreneurial minded (52%) than those whose parents are both employees (42%).
  •  Preference for employee status
  1. Income and job stability as the main arguments for preferring employee status in Europe
  •  Preference for self-employed status

  1. Self-fulfilment above all: European Union citizens, who would prefer to be self-employed rather than an employee, justify their choice first and foremost by the independence or self-fulfilment that they associate with such a status and the interest of the tasks accomplished (77%). The second reason, the prospect of better income comes a long way behind (23%) in terms of motivation.

Different expectations in the 10 new Member States:

  • The 10 new European Union Member States attach more importance to the prospect of higher income than their new neighbours: 34% of the new European Union citizens gave that reason compared with only 20% of citizens in the fifteen old member States.
  • The prospect of higher income associated with being self-employed interests more the Czechs (61%), Greeks (53%), Hungarians and Slovaks (43%).
  • EU15 citizens cite more often self-fulfilment and the job interest of self-employed status (79% versus 67% for NMS).
  • The French (86%), Germans (85%), Irish and Estonians (84%) are more attracted by the independence and self-fulfilment aspects associated with being self-employed.
  • In Liechtenstein (80%), Norway (77%) and Iceland (67%), the interviewees attach considerable importance to self-fulfilment as the main reason for preferring self-employed status to employee status.

An analysis of the answers to this question based on the socio-demographic variables of European citizens highlights the following:

  • More men cite the prospect of higher earnings as a reason for becoming self-employed (26% compared with 17% for women).
  • Opinions in this area are divided according to the level of education; the higher the level of education the more the independence or interesting tasks associated with being self-employed are cited by the respondents. Income seems to be less important for people having studied longer or still studying.
  • Self-employed people who confirm their preference for being self-employed attach the most importance to self-fulfilment, while manual workers focus more on the prospect of higher income that they associate with being self-employed.
  • As regards locality type, respondents living in towns and cities attach more importance to self-fulfilment as the reason for their preference.
  • The attraction of self-employed status for non-self-employed people:
  1. The degree of temptation to become self-employed: a third of Europeans would appear to be tempted by the idea of becoming self-employed;
  2. The degree of feasibility of becoming self-employed: in the absolute, becoming self-employed seems unrealistic.