Women represent the majority of the total population\nin both Europe and Slovakia. However, men are dominant in the conduct of\nentrepreneurial activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Slovakia is characterised within the European Union in\nterms of entrepreneurial activity by a below-average representation of women, a\nsignificant representation of younger age groups and a low representation of\nolder age groups of the population. The most represented age category in\nSlovakia is entrepreneurs aged 40\u201349. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nintegration of these disadvantaged groups into entrepreneurship will need\nadequate attention in the future. The creation as well as the further\ndevelopment of existing support instruments for these groups of entrepreneurs\nat national as well as European level by decision-makers can help sustain\neconomic growth and boost employment in the long term. Without regular\nmonitoring of the gender and age aspects of entrepreneurship, it would not be\npossible to accurately assess the extent to which the various priorities and\nobjectives of these instruments are being met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Female\nentrepreneurs start their businesses in Slovakia mainly in services sectors,\nwhich are characterised by lower capital intensity. This preference for female\nentrepreneurs is also reflected in the representation of female sole traders in\nthe different sectors of the economy, with the highest representation in the\nother services sector. Moreover, it is the only sector with a long-term\nincrease in the proportion of women. In 2019, female sole traders made up more\nthan 60% of the monitored sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nterms of the different legal forms, women<\/strong>\nmaintain an over-representation only in\nthe case of freelancers.<\/strong> One of the reasons for women’s preference for\nfreelancing is part-time self-employment in order to earn an income to\nsupplement their employment income, and also the sheer increase in interest in\nfreelance entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women’s\nentrepreneurial activity is characterised by a higher level in the regions of\nwestern Slovakia and in the northern districts of central Slovakia. The lower\nlevel of women’s entrepreneurial activity persists in regions with lower\neconomic performance, in eastern Slovakia and in south-central Slovakia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The specific roles that\nwomen play at a young age are also reflected in the age structure of female\nentrepreneurs. Female entrepreneurs are more likely to be entrepreneurs at\nhigher ages compared to men. In contrast, the age structure of men is characterised\nby a higher proportion of young entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The low entrepreneurial\nactivity of women compared to the general population in Slovakia results from\nlow self-confidence in entrepreneurial abilities or lack of perception of\nsuitable business opportunities, but also from a stronger fear of failure.\nWomen are also often constrained in entrepreneurship by institutional and\nmarket failures. Similarly, the tax and levy burden, insufficiently transparent\nlegislation and the related frequent changes and access to finance are\nobstacles to women’s entrepreneurial activity in Slovakia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, more and more women in\nSlovakia perceive good opportunities for entrepreneurship in their\nsurroundings. On average, 50% of women surveyed consider entrepreneurship to be\na suitable career choice. The most pronounced variation, with a higher\nproportion of female respondents compared to the general population, has been\nin the perception of fear of business failure over the recent period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The development of the age structure of\nnatural persons – entrepreneurs in previous years was characterised by an\nincrease in the representation of entrepreneurs aged up to 30 years.<\/strong> In 2019, their upward trend was halted and\nthey reached almost 17% of the population. In terms of individual sectors, the\nlargest number of sole traders in the age category up to 30 years has been in\nthe construction industry for a long time. Other attractive sectors for youth\nentrepreneurship include business services, industry, transport, information\nand communication activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\naddition, the age structure of natural persons – entrepreneurs in the regions\nof the Slovak Republic is largely related to the age structure of economically\nactive persons. The \u017dilina Region and the Pre\u0161ov Region are characterised by\nthe highest representation of young natural persons – entrepreneurs under the\nage of 30. In these regions, one in five entrepreneurs is less than 30 years\nold. Similarly, the under-30 age bracket dominated the start-up sector in 2019.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since\n2016, there has been an upward trend in the representation of young people who\nthink they have the knowledge and skills to be entrepreneurs. On the other\nhand, the high self-confidence of young people may later lead to passive\nentrepreneurial activity and may also be one of the reasons for the low\nsustainability of youth entrepreneurship in Slovakia. While young Slovak\nentrepreneurs have almost 2 times higher potential and almost 4 times higher\ninitial entrepreneurial activity than entrepreneurs aged 60 and over, these\nelderly entrepreneurs are 2 times more represented in the entrepreneurial\nestablishment. On the other hand, since 2016, the proportion of young people\nwho consider entrepreneurship as a suitable career choice has been declining.\nSimilar to women, the most pronounced variation, with a higher proportion of\nyoung people compared to the general population, has been in the perception of\nfear of business failure over the recent period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The share of natural\npersons – entrepreneurs aged 60 and over has fluctuated between 7% and 11% over\nthe last 10 years. Self-employed peasants have the highest proportion of\nentrepreneurs in this age group. In 2019, one in four entrepreneurs in that\nlegal form was over 60 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gender composition of\nentrepreneurs aged 60 and over<\/strong> shows\nthe key position of men<\/strong>, accounting\nfor almost two-thirds of the total number of natural persons – entrepreneurs.The highest share of entrepreneurs in\nthe monitored age group is in the districts within the capital city of\nBratislava and Ko\u0161ice. The group of districts in Slovakia with a high share of\nnatural persons – entrepreneurs aged 60 and over is complemented by the\ndistricts of Bansk\u00e1 Bystrica, Pie\u0161\u0165any and Michalovce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The barriers faced by\nelderly entrepreneurs are slightly different compared to other age groups.\nDespite being seen as having the most experience, they are often perceived by\nsociety as less flexible, committed and able to adapt to new technologies.\nDeclining health and the opportunity cost of time are barriers primarily\nrelated to starting a business among the elderly. This group of start-up\nentrepreneurs is less willing to devote time to activities that generate a\nstream of future payments and involve some risk, such as starting a business,\ncompared to activities that generate immediate and risk-free returns, such as\nworking for a wage. Given that some older people enter entrepreneurship from\nsalaried jobs and have high levels of human capital, they may not have\nsufficient entrepreneurial skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Like women, an increasing\nnumber of older people in Slovakia think there are good business opportunities\nin their area. Over the recent period, an average of 50% of the population in\nthe age group surveyed believe that they have the knowledge and skills to be an\nentrepreneur and also see entrepreneurship as a suitable career choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following\nthe state and development of the age structure of entrepreneurs in Slovakia,\nmore attention should be paid to improving the quality of training for young\npeople to enter entrepreneurship due to insufficient entrepreneurial skills,\nlack of information, or problematic access to finance. In the context of the\ndemographic development of the Slovak population, which is characterised by a\ngradual ageing of the population, the issue of using the economic potential of\nseniors, including the involvement of seniors in entrepreneurship and the\nsupport of start-up entrepreneurs, is increasingly coming to the fore. Public\npolicies and support instruments designed to promote entrepreneurship should also\nreflect these challenges. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Women represent the majority of the total population in both Europe and Slovakia. However, men are dominant in the conduct of entrepreneurial activity. Slovakia is characterised within the European Union in terms of entrepreneurial activity by a below-average representation of women, a significant representation of younger age groups and a low representation of older age […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\n