Survey of general self-employment/entrepreneurship and ...

Project ID: NPAD-2016/10090

Survey of general self-employment/entrepreneurship

and unemployment situation in Finland, Denmark Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 2

2. Definitions of entrepreneur or self-employed .......................................................................................... 3

3. Various forms of self-employment ........................................................................................................... 4

4. Statistic of people 50+ situation in the labour market............................................................................... 5

5. Measures aimed to increase the employment of the people 50+............................................................ 11

6. Organizations involved in this area ......................................................................................................... 14

7. Survey of the target group ..................................................................................................................... 15

7.1 Introduction of the survey ................................................................................................................ 15

7.2 Entrepreneurial intentions ............................................................................................................... 19

7.3 Extra charts for analysis .................................................................................................................... 25


1. Introduction This paper discusses self-employment/entrepreneurship and unemployment situations in 5 partnering countries for the purpose of the ”Safe – seeking actively for employment project”. Project is implemented according Nordplus Adult project for the period 2016 06 - 2018 05. Project is implemented by 5 partnering organizations:

ANMIRO OY (Finland) The AOF-East (Denmark) Panevežys Business Advisory Centre (PBAC) (Lithuania); Latconsul Ltd (Latvia) Kuressaare Gümnaasium's (KG) Education and Training Centre Osilia (Estonia)

The aims of the project:

Encouraging the people 50+ to consider self-employment as an opportunity to stay longer in the labor market;

Identification of an adjustment in the successful Nord countries practice in life-long learning area;

Dissemination of the EU Active Ageing Policy ideas among the people 50+ to ensure their active participation in the social life.

It starts with the presentation what is meant by self-employed and/or entrepreneur in general also legal definition in each Partnering country. Chapter 3 shows the options to become a self-employed person and start running a business, shortly indtroduces the legal forms of a business. Chapter 4 reveals the general statistic information. Chapter 5 presents where a nascent entrepreneur can find support for his plans to start a business. Chapter 6 presents the list important organizations in each country for persons who would like to start a business and become self-employed. Chapter 7 represents the Survey conducted in each partnering country results.


2. Definitions of entrepreneur or self-employed The entrepreneur is a person who (alone or together with others), rather than working as an employee, runs a small business. The entrepreneur carries out activities and assumes all the risks, control, opportunities and rewards of a given business venture, whose objective is to make a profit. The most common reasons for becoming entrepreneur are:

Necessity to get incomes, because a person has no other work options, Possession of innovative business idea and desire to implement it, Recognition of profitable business opportunities.

There are many entrepreneurship definitions in a literature. It is a long way to determine a common definition and it has been challenging for many scholars. Each country has different legal definitions of entrepreneurship, for example:

In Lithuania legal act ”Lithuanian law of small and medium enterprises” defines the entrepreneur as natural entity according to the law engaged in economic and commercial activities (including exercised under a business license),

In Latvia Entrepreneurship is “natural or legal persons sustained or systematic economic activity associated with capital investment and involving the production, marketing, various works, services, trade, etc.”,

In Finland from the viewpoint of unemployment benefit, a person is regarded as an entrepreneur when (s)he: is liable to take out insurance as specified by the Self-Employed Persons’ Pensions Act, or works in a managerial position (managing director or member of the board of directors) in an enterprise where (s)he owns at least 15 % or his/ her family members or s(he) together with family members owns at least 30 %, or works as an employee in an enterprise whereof (s)he, his/her family members or all of them together own at least 50 %,

In Denmark the term “Entrepreneurship” often used for people who start businesses that create new products or contributed to a significant annual growth. An entrepreneur creates business renewal and usually also more jobs. Thus provides entrepreneurs in the long term very positive contribution to society.

Entrepreneur often faces financial, management, lack of information challenges in starting point: Arranging finance, Lack of expertise and experience, Lack of knowledge of legislation, taxation and setting up contracts, Insufficient skills in the native language, Lack of familiarity with native business culture, Time management (work/study, family/spouse, free-time, etc.).

Despite of business start-up difficulties and development challenges entrepreneurial activity and self-employment possibility is increasingly noticeable among people 50+. Entrepreneurship is an opportunity to figure out how to draw from retirement savings to finance the business of their dreams. The biggest advantages of the age 50+ are that these people have great management experience and


large professional networks.

3. Various forms of self-employment This chapter will provide detailed analysis of legal forms and fields to start self-employment. There are different options to become a self-employed person, starting from completely new business idea, developing existing business idea, working as a franchisee, starting business part-time (in addition to a main job or studies), establishing start up enterprise, choosing team entrepreneurship or partnership or set up a social enterprise.

Depending on possibilities, an entrepreneur may open a number of types of companies in each partnering country. The most popular forms in all countries are basically the same: sole proprietorship, public limited liability company, private limited liability company, general partnership and the limited partnership.

Legal forms of self-employment in Finland:

Sole trader (in Finnish: Toiminimi) Professional trader. Partnerships: General partnership, Limited partnership.

Limited company: Private (Oy), Public (Oyj).

Co-operative. Types of companies in Denmark:

Private Limited Company (Anpartsselskab - ApS), Public Limited Company or stock corporation (Aktieselskab - A/S), General Partnership (Interessentskab - I/S), Limited Partnership (Kommanditselskab - K/S), Sole Proprietorship.

There are a number of types of companies in Lithuania:

A private company (with the suffix UAB) - most popular, about 96% of all establishments, A public company (with the suffix AB). Similar to LLC (Limited Liability Company) or

JSC (Joint Stock Company), Branch or representative office, Association, Agricultural company (with the suffix ZUB), State enterprise, etc.


In Latvia person who wants to start a small business can register as “self-employed” – meaning that he can choose to pay a small fixed amount of income tax if the income does not exceed 14,424 Euros a year.

Entrepreneur can register a SIA (the Latvian equivalent of an Ltd or LLC) and there are two main types of SIA at the moment:

A regular SIA, where you are likely to pay 15% corporate income tax. A “Micro enterprise” SIA (or “mikrouzņēmums”) where you pay less corporate income tax,

but can only pay yourself a salary of up to 720 Euros per month.

There are five forms of business entities, which are created by entry into the Commercial Register in Estonia:

Sole Proprietorship (füüsilisest isikust ettevõtja or FIE), General Partnership (täisühing or TÜ), Limited Partnership (usaldusühing or UÜ), Private Limited Company (osaühing or OÜ), Public Limited Company (aktsiaselts or AS).

4. Statistic of people 50+ situation in the labour market Despite of the wealth of experience and knowledge, self-employment rates for the age group 50+ remain quite low at the moment. The consequences of unemployment are particularly problematic for older workers as they face the greatest challenges in finding new jobs. This is partly due to age based discrimination, but also due to other barriers – perceived reduced mobility and flexibility in the workplace, outdated working methods, lack of new technology skills and etc. According to the data from Eurostat database the unemployment rates have tendency to decrease in last years:

Table 1. Unemployment rates of people from 55 to 64 years old in 2012-2014.

Denmark Estonia Latvia Lithuania Finland 2012 5,5 % 7,2 % 14,7 % 11,9 % 6,6 % 2013 5,1 % 6,0 % 10,5 % 11,2 % 7,0 % 2014 4,8 % 5,4 % 9,9 % 10,7 % 7,3 %

One way to increase the number of older people who have a chance to stay in the workforce is to retrain them and encourage for self-employment or setting up their own businesses. According to the most of surveys, companies founded by older people tend to have a 70% chance of surviving the crucial first 5 years compared with 28% for companies started by younger people. Older entrepreneurs possess more experience, business and social networks than younger entrepreneurs and are actually more capable of starting and running a business. Promoting entrepreneurship for the 50+ is vitally important. For this age group, entrepreneurship provides independence and self-fulfillment or it could be a part-time activity providing a second income, while others see it as a full career change or as a pension supplement. In any case, it is a chance for millions to do something new and different that offers exciting opportunities, an income


and increased flexibility. 50+ employment can also serve as a driver of growth and potentially job creation. The mentoring skills of older entrepreneurs can be particularly useful in training young staff – and in some cases senior entrepreneurs will also become job creators themselves. Unemployment rates and number of entrepreneurs in Finland Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey for July 2016 reports the number of unemployed persons was 214,000, which was 18,000 lower than July 2015 and 50,000 lower than the previous quarter. The unemployment rate was 7.8%, down from 8.4% in July 2015. The July 2016 rate is 2.0% lower than the previous quarter. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment reports 378,400 unemployed jobseekers in July 2016. This is 12,300 higher than the previous month but 3,200 less than the same time last year. The Ministry's figures show 127,200 people out of work for a year or more, an increase of about 12.5% since July 2015. Next picture shows the unemployment rate among 55 to 64 year olds in Finland monthly from April 2015 to August 2016:

Picture 1. Unemployment rate among 55 to 64 year olds in Finland monthly from April 2015 to

August 2016 The table indicates that the unemployment rate is still quite high even though it is decreasing slow. As Finland is one of the most rapidly ageing countries in the world towards 2020, the lengthening of people’s careers has been one of the most notable issues on the social partners’ agenda in recent years. The most important existing policy on ageing has been the introduction of a comprehensive pension


reform with a flexible retirement scheme that took place in 2005. The reformed pension system includes a flexible retirement age between 63–68 years. In Finland, there are c. 280 000 enterprises, of which c. 180 000 are one-man-enterprises or self-employed. The amount of self-employed without employees have increased with 45 000 during the last 10 years. The number of self-employed with employees has increased during the same period with 3 000 enterprises. Thus, the total growth of the number of Finnish enterprises has based on the growth of the increasing number of self-employed without employees. Over half of the self-employed with no-employees, in Finland have highly educated, 28% of them have been graduated from in universities of applied sciences and 23% from universities. Unemployment rates and number of entrepreneurs in Denmark The latest figures from jobindsats.dk shows that there was a little less than 40,000 long-term unemployed in 2014, when adjusted for seasonality. Of this, some 11,000 over 50 years.

Table 2. Unemployment in Denmark, in 2014.

2014

Population Labour force Unemployed Employed Outside the workforce

Hole country 50-54 years 374.370 310.313 13.691 296.622 64.057

55-59 years 353.381 282.983 15.035 267.948 70.398

60-64 years 341.481 171.909 5.556 166.353 169.572

65+ years 150.196 37.069 46 37.023 113.127

Figures from the Central Business Register, CVR shows that the number of start-ups in 2014 is growing rapidly. Thus established 13,000 new companies alone during the first half of 2014. This corresponds to 500 new businesses a week since the New Year.

Also at the Danish Chamber of Commerce sees the growing entrepreneurial trend as a sign that the economy is now again allows to dream big, says chief economist Michael Stæhr to DR News.

First half-year business boom means that started 40 percent more new companies compared to the same period in 2013.

Unemployment rates and number of entrepreneurs in Lithuania

Unemployment Rate in Lithuania increased to 8.80 percent in February from 8.70 percent in January of 2017. During the latest 5 years unemployment rate was decreasing slowly:


Picture 2. Unemployment Rate in Lithuania, in 2012-2017.

According to the Labour Exchange Office in the beginning of 2017 almost every third registered unemployed person in Lithuania was younger than 30 years age, every fourth – older than 50 years old. The graph below shows the unemployment rates by the age in Lithuania, in 2015:

Picture 3. Unemployment rates by the age in Lithuania, in 2015

New businesses establishment was decreasing slowly in 2015. In this period it was set up almost 4 thousand (or almost 27%) less enterprises than in 2014 and was removed – 0,7 thousand (or 36%) more than in 2014. In the first half of 2016 this trend has become different 0,3 thousand (or almost 5%) more companies has been established, 0,4 thousand (or 15%) less – deregistered than in the same period in 2015. Therefore, registered and deregistered company's balance sheet was better in the first half of 2016 than in the previous year.


Self-employment has been growing rapidly in 2015. It’s increased by around 4% per year (or 6,1 thousand persons) and more than 10% (or 14,7 thousand people) in the first quarter of 2016. These trends were a result of the shift of the most self-employed people with no employees belonging to the 25-49 and 50-74 years age groups.

Self-employed people were already 156 thousand or 10.4% more in the first quarter of 2016 than in the same period of 2015. Majority of self-employed persons belong to 25-49 and 50-74 years ages. These individuals initially consisting of respectively 57% and 39% of the total number of self-employed people in 2015. The part of 15-24 years age group has a tendency to increase slightly in recent years. However, only about 6% of this age group is employed. The number of self-employed people of 25-49 and 50-74 years age groups are much higher (13% and 15% of the respective age group is employed).

Statistics in Latvia Retirement age Women | Men – 62.50 years Employment rate of people 50 – 64 years – 62 % (59.5 % in EU) Unemployment rate of people 50 – 64 – 12 % (7.7 % in EU) 3 of 5 employers fire their employees because of age 7 of 10 people aged 50 - 64 perceive themselves as not sufficient for the market already 35 % of all registered unemployed were elderly people aged 50 years and older. 46.1 % of all

registered unemployed in this age group were long-term unemployed. Average unemployment period for registered unemployed aged 50 years and older is 312 days

(10.2 months). The most popular previous occupations among registered unemployed aged 50 years and older

are assistant, cleaner, yard keeper, retail sales assistant, automobile driver. Most of the big companies are driven by people 50 + People think positively on opening business after 50 because they are perceived as more

experienced, educated and with good business connections established along the life

Unemployment rates and number of entrepreneurs in Estonia In 2000-2015, the population of Estonia was in constant decline, but there was an increase in the number and employment of the elderly. Due to the rise in the pensionable age of females, the employment rate of females has increased faster than that of males. While in 2000 five out of ten males aged 55-64 and four out of ten females of the same age were employed, in 2015 the corresponding figures were six out of ten for males and seven out of ten for females. 50+ age group in Estonia can be characterized that they can evaluate their professional development, want to learn and they are interested in learning and in new things. At this age people focus on studies more, it is relevant for them that the subject of learning is interesting and beneficial for the learner. Very often the people of this age group wish to make a turnaround in their working life and are ready to learn a new profession. Previous professional and life experiences make it easier to learn new things. However, for the people of this age group there sometimes occur some obstacles that in some cases they are not able to find a job. People fail to present their strengths and skills themselves.


According to the data from Estonian Statistics Agency in 2011 the number of people aged 50-74 in Estonia was approximately 381, 000. The percentage of elderly people of the population is increasing in Estonia. In 1980 the elderly accounted for 28% of the population, in 2012 the percentage reached 36%. According to the prognosis of the Statistics agency the percentage of the elderly is also growing in the following decades, reaching 43% by 2045. According Estonian Statistics Agency, elderly people (at the age 50 and more) percentage (%) of population in Estonia during the years 1980-2050 (%):

Picture 4. Elderly people (at the age 50 and more) percentage (%) of population in Estonia during the years 1980-2050 (%).

In Estonia the rate of activity and employment is significantly higher than that of average in European Union – according to the data from Eurostat in Estonia the employment rate of people at the age 55-64 was 54% in 2010 and 57% in 2011, the average of European Union was respectively 46% and 47%. The activity of the elderly in Estonia in 2011 was according to Eurostat 65%, the average of European Union respectively 50%. As the percentage of the elderly in population is increasing, also the rate of employment of the people of 50-74 has increased during the last ten years, especially during the economy boom in the middle of 2000’s. The rate of employment (%) of the elderly population (50–74 years) considering (Source: Estonian Statistics Agency):

Picture 5. The rate of employment (%) of the elderly population (50–74 years).


The gap between the rate of employment of the elderly men and women has significantly decreased during the last 15 years. Although the respective employment rate of the elderly men has been higher than that of women, reaching 55% at the peak of economy boom, the differences have nearly vanished first of all due to the growth of employment rate of women (in the period of 1997-2011 in total 17 percent).

5. Measures aimed to increase the employment of the people 50+ People 50+ integration into labour market is promoting by various programs. Each country has different institutions, which are responsible for employment, projects implementation, funds and etc. There are many abilities for someone considering setting up new business to get support like grants or services in each country. For example, in Finland someone considering setting up a business should contact local Employment and Economic Development Office before starting their operations and to establish the possibilities for obtaining start-up grant. The purpose of start-up grants is to encourage new businesses and promote employment. The grant provides an entrepreneur with a secure income during the time that getting the business up and running is estimated to take – however for no more than 12 months. The start-up grant consists of a basic grant, which amounts to EUR 32.40 a day in 2017. In Finland, there is freedom of trade. This means that here you may engage in business operations that are lawful and in accordance with good practice without requiring a licence from the authorities. However, for certain industries, you do need a licence for the sake of the community, the environment and consumer safety. In other fields, you must notify the authorities of your operations, even thoug an official licence is not required. The only form of insurance that entrepreneurs must take is entrepreneurs’ pension insurance (i.e. YEL insurance). This is available from pension insurance companies. An entrepreneur shall be paid old-age pension and disability pension as well as rehabilitation allowance based on the Self-Employed Persons’ Pensions Act. The entrepreneur’s work income shall also form the basis for all allowances payable by Kela (the Social Insurance Institution of Finland), such as the sickness allowance and maternity and parental allowances. The YEL work income must match that salary that should be paid to professional individuals for similar work. In Denmark, entrepreneurs can get “Getting Started loans”, which are ordinary bank loans with an associated guarantee from the state. The loan is aimed at entrepreneurs, defined as companies with a VAT number from the last 12 months. Besides the loan should the entrepreneur offered advice and coaching from professionals about starting and running a business. Growth Fund is managing the special funds in stages is elevated by public tender agreements with several banks, offering Getting Started loan of up to 500,000 kr. A person who is searching for a new job in Denmark can browse in Jobnet. It is the public jobcentres website for all jobseekers and employers in Denmark. The jobcenters is charged with procuring jobs for jobseekers and ensuring that companies find the labour they need. The jobcenters assists all applicants in finding help and guidance on recruitment, job hunting or general information on the labour market. In Latvia, self-employment is encouraging by The State Employment business grants for the Agency (SEA). They offer unemployed people the support measures for business or self-employment, which aims to provide advisory and financial support measures to help the unemployed with previous


training and orientation for commercial activities to start a business or self-employment and successfully operate in the chosen area of not less than two years. During the event, the unemployed receive the necessary assistance and support to the business or self-employment:

consulting business plan preparation and drafting (20 consultations within 6 weeks); If the agency appointed expert gave a positive opinion on the viability of the business plan and the necessary support for the SEA:

consulting business to implement the plan in the first year of self-employment or business (20 tutorials);

implementation of a business plan - a maximum of 2845.74 euros according to the approved business plan estimates;

business grant for young unemployed (aged 18-29 years) with the NVA has concluded an agreement on the business plan, the amount of one grant for the implementation of the business plan does not exceed 3000 euros;

monthly grant from implementation of the initial stage (first six months) - national minimum salary.

State Employment Agency procurement procedure selects a consultant and expert service providers. Recruitment processes running under an unwritten rule - seniors/ retirees are automatically into the "black list" and further the selection of their candidates is not driven. Business consulting and training center "LatConsul" based on their experience, identifies many advantages and calls why not to avoid seniors in recruitment. Employers are reluctant to recruit seniors and young women on the basis of the fact that this group of people employment tends to be associated with additional problems such as frequent absenteeism, but it is not so in all cases and do not outweigh the many positive benefits. Business consulting and training center "LatConsul” experience subverts the usual stereotypes about seniors employment.

In Estonia, unemployed people can get financial help and trainings:

Labour market training - The objective of labour market training is to provide the knowledge and skills needed to secure employment. You can participate in training if you and your consultant come to the conclusion that you need to gain new or improve existing knowledge and skills in order to secure employment.

Looking for a job in a foreign country and EURES - An unemployed person receiving unemployment insurance benefit can move to another EU country to look for work and continue to receive the unemployment insurance benefit he/she is entitled to, provided the unemployed person is actively seeking work in another country and is available for work and complies with the other country's rules on registering and looking for work. The jobseeker is entitled to the benefit for a limited period – up to 3 months (in exceptional cases up to 6 months).

A business start-up subsidy is financial aid (currently up to 4,474 euros) whose objective is to provide motivation and support in starting a business.

Work trial - A work trial offers an opportunity to try out a job that has been offered to you. This reassures the employer that the applicant is suitable before entering into an employment contract.

Work practice - Work practice helps restore working habits or form primary ones. The service is first and foremost designed for unemployed people who: have been unemployed for a long time,


have no work experience, are not ready to work independently on the open labour market.

Work practice includes simpler jobs which do not require special knowledge or for which the necessary skills can be acquired in the course of the work with the advice and guidance of a supervisor.

Voluntary work - Voluntary work facilitates securing employment: it helps prepare you for working life, to gain new experiences, knowledge and skills and, and to create or maintain working habits.

Mobility benefits - If you have been registered as unemployed for six months or more and find work more than 30 kilometres from your home the Unemployment Insurance Fund can pay you mobility benefits to commence work.

Mobility benefits can be paid if you start work or public service under a contract entered into for an unspecified term or for a specified term of at least six months.

Counselling services – career counselling, job club, debt counselling, psychological counselling.

Community work - Community work is an old tradition of people working together, and it continues to be upheld even today. It is a wonderful coming together in order to get something done. It includes all kinds of activities that need to be done in your village, neighbourhood, town or city.

In order to make easier integration into labour market of elder people, some projects, trainings, programmes and subsidies are directed to the target group 50+. Since 2015 Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund, Eesti Töötukassa, funds subsidies also for the start up of entrepreneurship of the pensionable age people or people over 63 who are looking for a job. The level of interest of seniors in the new beginning is quite low. The people who are ambitious enough to start a company at the pensionable age are not likely to become the clientele of unemployment insurance fund. Entrepreneurship is started generally by the people active in the labour market. The goal is to keep active those people who have five to ten years left until the pension age. Through the support to active pensioners it is also possible to activate those who are afraid to start entrepreneurship – for instance by recruiting them. Estonian Lifelong Learning Strategy 2020 is targeted to provide all people in Estonia with learning opportunities that are tailored to their needs and capabilities throughout their whole lifespan, in order for them to maximize opportunities for dignified self-actualization within society, in their work as well as in their family life. The program “Work-related training and development of adult education” co-financed by European Social Fund has priority target groups, which were specified in the frames of:

economically inactive another language speaking population of the age of 55-64, economically inactive Estonians of the age 55-64, individuals at least 50 years old, 55–64 years old employed people with low education level and economically inactive, 55–64 years old people with general secondary education, 55–64 years old pensioners.

Call for application of the projects “Development of key competences of the adults”- The objective of providing subsidy is to develop the key competences of the adults and to improve the attitudes towards learning. The target groups of the projects are either people with basic or secondary education


and/or adults with no professional education and other groups inactive in lifelong learning. The priority key competences are the skill of learning, social skills, digital competence, initiative and enterprisingness, and ability to speak foreign language including the skill of Estonian language for adults speaking other foreign languages In Lithuania, Lithuanian Labour Exchange (LLE) is responsible for the provision of labour market services to jobseekers and employers and the implementation of active labour market policy measures. LLE offers support for jobseekers who want to find a job more quickly, giving them the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills to compete and succeed in the labour market, and help employers to find qualified labour force. Main services for employers:

Information; Employment intermediation; Vocational training; Subsidised employment; Support for the acquisition of professional skills; Public works; Job rotation; Subsidies for job creation; Support for self-employment;

Employment of targer group 50+ is subsidized by the LLE in order to assist to integrate into the labour market. Unemployed people and given a notice of dismissal of employees are additionally supported, payment of subsidies for employers on wages (50% of minimum monthly salary and not more than 6 months).

Entrepreneurs can also apply for concessional loans to Entrepreneurship Promotion Fund. The goal of this measure is to enable micro and small businesses and individuals to start their own business as well as social enterprises to develop their business using financial engineering instruments, the promotion of entrepreneurship and self-employment and job creation. Implementation of the measure (granting loans and partial compensation of interest on loans, grants employees) is combined with beginners’ business training and counselling, assistance in preparing and implementing business plans.

Third Age University (TAU) is an international organization whose main purpose is to engage in lifelong learning and to promote cooperation in the elderly. Third Age University goal - to enable older people to remain an active part of society and have the opportunity to enjoy light aging. Elder people who have already become pensioners with a lot of free time to devote to the study, development, their youthful ambitions and the implementation of a dreams.

6. Organizations involved in this area Unemployed people and people who are interested in entrepreneurship can refer to the responsible institutions in their countries. Project “SAFE” partners selected the most important organizations for business creation or self-employment possibilities. The list of institutions further:


In Finland: The Finnish Patent and Registration Office, The ELY Centres, The Enterprise Finland, Finnvera, Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency, The Product Track service, ProAgria, Financial Advice (Talousapu), The BIS Search, Federation of Finnish Enterprises.

In Denmark:

VIRK, Senior network, Agency for Labor and Recruitment, AOF-East.

In Lithuania:

Lithuanian Labour Exchange (LLE), Entrepreneurship Promotion Fund, State Tax Inspectorate, SODRA, Third Age University, INVEGA, Credit Union, Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania, Enterprice Lithuania.

In Latvia:

Latvian Ministry of Welfare. In Estonia:

Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund, • Republic of Estonia Ministry of Social Affairs, • Republic of Estonia Social Insurance Board, • The Labour Inspectorate, • The Health Board, • Republic of Estonia Ministry of Education and Research.

7. Survey of the target group 7.1 Introduction of the survey According to the situation of aging society, the reason for continuing to work in older age appears even crucial. Many people over 50 still have responsibilities for others and decreased incomes affects a quality of their families’ life.


Regarding the whole situation in the labour market and the difficulties people 50+ have to face when trying to integrate themselves in it, it is necessary to find possibilities to make this action easier. Self-employment, setting up new businesses – can be a way to facilitate the future. The project “SAFE (Seeking Actively For Employment)” partners from Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania conducted a survey in purpose to find out the weaknesses and needs of target group 50+ for considering self-employment as an activity for the future planning. Each partner got an access to the project's target group and submitted 50 or more identical questionnaires to be replied. The questionnaires were translated from the English master questionnaire into the languages of the partner countries. There were totally 10 questions with a number of sub questions in addition to the background 7 variables of the respondents. The target of the questionnaire was to find whether the respondents had entrepreneurial intentions (Question 8. Have you ever considered to become self-employed?), and if yes, what skills they need for self-employment: ICT skills, Self-confidence or Entrepreneurial skills. Respectively, if the respondents had no entrepreneurial intentions they were asked to name which barriers were main for it: Negative public attitude, lack of self-confidence, lack of finances for the start, lack of skills/ competences or any other reasons.

Respondents who said they are considering to become self-employed were asked to rate the listed skills and competences in rating scale “Strongly agree”, “Agree”, “Neither agree nor disagree”, “Disagree” and “Strongly disagree” according the importance for their choice. In order to find out what skills and competences are significant:

For self-empowerment, respondents should rate this options: Self-believe, Representing Yourself, ideas, Learning new skills, Networking, Negotiation, Changes management, Self-discipline, Problem solving, Effective communication, Family-work balance, Teamwork and Leadership.

For ICT skills, respondents should rate this options: Use of email, Using the internet to find information, Transactions over internet, Spreadsheet programs, Word processors (such as Excel, Word use), Real-time discussions in the internet for example, online conferences or involvement in chat rooms, Cloud backup system for your digital documents, Blog and website design, Image and video processing, Ethical rules in the web environment, Beware of viruses, security.

And for entrepreneurial part, respondents should rate this options: Business planning, startup, Funding, Marketing, Financial planning, management and taxes, Safety at work requirements, Pricing, Labour law requirements, Business development, Customer service, Licensed activities, Managing of the documentation.

In the other side, respondents who said they are not considering to become self-employed were asked what skills they would like to acquire/develop to find a new job. They had to rate the listed skills and competences from “Strongly agree” to “Strongly disagree”:

For self-empowerment, respondents should rate this options: Self-believe, Representing Yourself/ Your ideas, Learning new skills, Networking, Negotiation, Changes management, Self-discipline, Problem solving, Effective communication, Family-work balance, Teamwork and Leadership.


For ICT skills, respondents should rate this options: Use of email, Using the internet to find information, Transactions over internet, Spreadsheet programs, Word processors (such as Excel, Word use), Real-time discussions in the internet for example, online conferences or involvement in chat rooms, Cloud backup system for your digital documents, Blog and website design, Image and video processing, Ethical rules in the web environment, Beware of viruses, security.

For entrepreneurial part, respondents should rate this options: Business planning, Funding, Marketing, Financial planning, management and taxes, Safety at work requirements, Pricing, Labour law requirements, Business development, Customer service, Licensed activities, Managing of the documentation.

The results of the survey confirmed that many people 50+ are not willing to become self-employed due to the missing knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship area. Most of respondents think they are not ready for this choice due to the lack of knowledge about Funding, Marketing, Financial planning, management and taxes themes. Very big part of respondents agreed they have weak networking skills, negotiation skills and are not good at ICT skills, especially beware of viruses and security. The next tables show the respondents’ background. Overall 271 responses were collected from individuals belonging to the target group 50+ participated in the survey: 113 male and 158 women. Workgroup of the project found important the educational background of recipients for discovering training needs and possibilities. The majority of these people have university degree and vocational education background. Only 14% have basic education level. Almost a half of seniors has a great work experience in manufacturing sector. 12% is experienced in education, 11% - in agriculture and the same in commerce sector. Females are more experienced in commerce and education sector, Males - in manufacturing and agriculture. As other option more than one respondent mentioned their main work experience in culture, media, service areas. These results show that target group could has useful experience to work on their own, managing business processes and planning activities. In the next table is shown the educational and work experience background of respondents by gender:

Table 3. Educational and work experience background of respondents by gender.

Educational Background:

Work experience area, length:

Basic Secondary Vocational Higher University degree TOTAL

Mal

e

Fem

ale

Mal

e

Fem

ale

Mal

e

Fem

ale

Mal

e

Fem

ale

Mal

e

Fem

ale

Mal

e

Fem

ale

Agriculture 3 2 5 - 5 2 1 5 6 - 20 9 0-9 - - - - - - - - - - - -

10-19 1 1 - - 1 - - - - - 2 1 20-29 - - 1 - 2 2 1 5 2 - 6 7

30+ 2 1 4 - 2 - - - 4 - 12 1 Commerce - 4 - 2 3 8 5 3 1 7 9 24

0-9 - 2 - - - - - - - - - 2 10-19 - - - 1 - 2 1 - - 1 1 4 20-29 - - - - 2 3 2 - - 5 4 8

30+ - 2 - 1 1 3 2 3 1 1 4 10 Education 3 1 1 - 1 7 3 5 2 11 10 24

0-9 - - - - - - - - - - - - 10-19 1 - - - - 1 - - 1 2 2 3 20-29 1 1 1 - - 2 1 - 1 6 4 9


The length of work experience of respondents is significant: 42% have more than 30 years work experience, 33 % have 20-29 years work experience, 16% - from 10 to 19 years and 9 % - less than 10 years. The numbers show that majority was working mainly all the working age and is highly experienced. The respondents divided almost equally into three age groups: from 50 to 54, from 55 to 60 and over 60. A half of respondents is short term unemployed – not working less than 2 years. It means that they are not broke away from the working rhythm yet. These rates indicate that encouraging people to be more active in labor market can be possibly easier. The larger time gap spending in unemployment status is, the more difficult to integrate them into labor market could be. The distribution is shown in the next table:

Table 4. Years of unemployment by gender and country.

30+ 1 - - - 1 4 2 5 - 3 4 12 Healthcare - - - 4 - 3 - 6 - 2 0 15

0-9 - - - - - - 1 1 - - 1 1 10-19 - - - 3 - 1 - - - - - 4 20-29 - - - - - - - 2 - 1 - 3

30+ - - 1 1 2 1 3 - 1 2 7 ICT - - - - - - - - 2 2 2 2 0-9 - - - - - - - - - - - -

10-19 - - - - - - - - - - - - 20-29 - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 1

30+ - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 1 Manufacturing 7 - 9 2 8 2 6 3 5 14 35 21

0-9 2 - 3 - - - - - - - 5 - 10-19 1 - 1 1 1 - 2 1 1 - 6 2 20-29 2 - 3 - 5 1 3 2 - - 13 3

30+ 2 - 2 1 2 1 1 - 4 14 11 16 Other 5 11 6 9 7 16 5 7 14 20 37 63

TOTAL 18 18 21 17 24 38 20 29 30 56 271

Age group by countries

Female Male Years of

unemployment TOTAL OF FEMALE

Years of unemployment

TOTAL OF MALE TOTAL

1 - 2 3 - 4 5 + 1 - 2 3 - 4 5 + Danmark 25 4 29 17 3 1 21 50

50 - 54 7 1 - 8 5 1 - 6 14 55 - 59 12 3 - 15 3 2 - 5 20

60 + 6 - - 6 9 - 1 10 16 Estonia 15 8 - 23 12 16 - 28 51

50 - 54 7 - - 7 2 1 - 3 10 55 - 59 6 3 - 9 6 8 - 14 23

60 + 2 5 - 7 4 7 - 11 18 Finland 20 13 10 43 11 4 11 26 69

50 - 54 11 9 3 23 6 1 6 13 36 55 - 59 8 3 4 15 3 1 2 6 21

60 + 1 1 3 5 2 2 3 7 12 Latvia 10 16 11 37 5 2 6 13 50

50 - 54 6 - - 6 - 1 - 1 7 55 - 59 3 1 6 10 4 - - 4 14

60 + 1 15 5 21 1 1 6 8 29 Lithuania 13 7 6 26 12 7 6 25 51


7.2 Entrepreneurial intentions The main question for the respondents in this survey was “Have you ever considered to become self-employed?”. Almost half of respondents answered “yes”. But next half has never thought about self-employment possibility. The entrepreneurial intentions by gender and country are shown in the next table:

Table 4. Entrepreneurial intentions by gender and country. Country Male Female

YES NO TOTAL YES NO TOTAL Danmark 17 4 21 15 14 29

Estonia 13 15 28 10 13 23 Finland 17 9 26 21 22 43

Latvia 8 5 13 7 30 37 Lithuania 10 15 25 14 12 26

TOTAL 65 48 113 67 91 158 Further the results of survey are shown in Charts. Chart 1 illustrates the number of male and female respondents who have entrepreneurial intentions by country:

Chart 1. Number of positive answers to the question if respondents have

ever considered about self-employment.

Those people who gave negative answer was asked if they can evaluate the main barriers, which could be essential for the decision making. According to the responses the main reasons were financial. Respondents also affirmed that they need to improve their skills and competences related to self-employment activities. Many individuals feel lack of self-confidence and negative public attitude, which possibly demotivate them.

15

10

21

7

1417

1317

810

0

5

10

15

20

25

Danmark Estonia Finland Latvia Lithuania

Have you ever consider to become self-employed?

Female

Male

50 - 54 7 6 1 14 7 5 1 13 27 55 - 59 4 1 5 10 3 2 3 8 18

60 + 2 - - 2 2 - 2 4 6 TOTAL 83 48 27 158 57 32 24 113 271


Chart 2. Main barriers for becoming self-employed.

Still, 48% of respondents said they have considered this possibility before. It was asked which skills or competences they feel important to get if they will decide to become self-employed in the future. In small difference entrepreneurial skills were defined as most important, ICT skills and self-confidence were equally important also.

Chart 3. Skills/ competences are needed for self-employment.

Further respondents were asked to rate the topics of ICT, self-empowerment and entrepreneurship given in more details. The skills respondents would like to acquire or develop to start self-employment were evaluated in the scale from totally disagree to totally agree. The Chart 10 shows that Learning new skills, Representing Yourself, Networking and Effective communication are the most wanted to improve under Self empowerment topic. For the skills/ competences: Family-work balance, Changes management and Self-discipline the respondents felt uncertain if they need it.

22

7 2 8

34

172

23

71

61 60 62

34

66

5750

1 9

38

22

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Negative public attitude Lack of self confidence Lack of finances for thestart

Lack of skills/compentences

Barriers for becoming self-employed

Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

83 84

103

20 2511

33 3324

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

ICT skills Self-confidence Entrepreneurial skills

Skills/ competences are needed for self-employment

Agree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree


Chart 4. Skills needed to be improve – Self empowerment.

In ICT section the most important skills to acquire was: Beware of viruses and security issues, Cloud backup system for your digital documents, Transactions over the internet. Many individuals neither agreed nor disagreed they need Real-time discussions in the internet, Image and video processing.

Chart 5. Skills needed to be improve – ICT.

12

11

9

7

13

13

13

14

9

13

15

13

13

13

8

13

9

15

13

7

11

13

16

15

40

34

38

38

39

51

56

42

39

61

45

42

60

59

54

55

55

46

45

54

61

33

48

47

21

27

36

28

25

17

15

24

20

22

19

27

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Self-believe

Representing Yourself

Learning new skills

Networking

Negotiation

Changes management

Self-discipline

Problem solving

Effective communication

Family-work balance

Teamwork

Leadership

Self empowerment


27

24

20

22

19

22

13

21

17

19

18

13

14

12

18

7

25

17

14

4

37

39

37

43

45

47

44

44

45

39

41

43

43

39

44

52

45

44

47

50

26

28

27

28

17

18

18

16

17

31

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Use of email

Using the internet to find information

Transactions over the internet

Spreadsheet programs, word processors

Real-time discussions in the internet

Cloud backup system for your digital documents

Blog and website design

Image and video processing

Ethical rules in the web environment

Beware of viruses, security

ICT



In Entrepreneurship area the most wanted skills were Funding, Marketing, Financial planning, management and taxes themes. Generally all the skills mentioned in the lists appeared more or less important to get or improve.

Chart 6. Skills needed to be improve – Entrepreneurship.

For the people who do not consider self-employment or entrepreneurship possibility, the question “What are the skills You would like to acquire/develop to find a new job?” was submitted. The topics were the same as the previous group. The results were also similar. In the section of Self empowerment can be noticed Learning new skills, Self believe, Representing Yourself and Effective communication as the most wanted to develop. For the skills/ competences: Family-work balance, Changes management and Networking respondents felt uncertain if they need it.

12

11

9

10

18

8

13

10

15

11

12

10

8

10

8

7

11

10

11

6

16

12

31

31

33

35

46

44

40

39

39

47

43

51

51

60

58

52

57

55

50

50

47

50

38

42

31

34

20

26

25

30

32

23

27

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Business planning, startup

Funding

Marketing

Financial planning, management and taxes

Safety at work requirements

Pricing

Labour law requirements

Business development

Customer service

Licensed activities

Managing of the documentation

Entrepreneurship



Chart 7. Skills needed to be improve to find a new job – Self empowerment.

Respondents need to improve some ICT skills which could be helpful in finding new job. Using the internet to find information, using the email skills are necessary nowadays in order to keep up with the labor market. In the other hand people 50+ feel the Blog and website design, Image and video processing, Real-time discussions in the internet are not necessary. Many people are uncertain if they need Cloud backup system using skills or not.

Chart 8. Skills needed to be improve to find a new job – ICT.

15

14

14

12

19

16

17

20

17

18

21

19

25

26

15

19

28

32

17

18

32

22

26

22

68

71

58

94

74

78

87

82

62

94

69

86

90

91

100

78

85

81

69

81

78

67

91

72

29

24

43

23

20

22

28

27

39

28

25

31

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Self-believe

Representing Yourself

Learning new skills

Networking

Negotiation

Changes management

Self-discipline

Problem solving

Effective communication

Family-work balance

Teamwork

Leadership

Self empowerment


28

26

18

24

21

27

26

28

26

22

24

14

30

21

35

23

33

31

24

14

64

70

72

74

74

93

88

69

78

85

93

90

81

83

92

65

57

83

76

81

22

30

25

25

15

17

22

17

20

28

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Use of email

Using the internet to find information

Transactions over the internet

Spreadsheet programs, word processors

Real-time discussions in the internet

Cloud backup system for your digital documents

Blog and website design

Image and video processing

Ethical rules in the web environment

Beware of viruses, security

ICT



Some competences and skills of entrepreneurship section could be helpful to find a new job. Majority more agree than disagree about the need of these skills. Half of the respondents agreed that Customer service and Funding are important to them even if they are not planning a business.

Chart 9. Skills needed to be improve to find a new job – Entrepreneurship.

It is pleasing that people assess themselves critically and only less than one quarter of the group replied they do not need one or another skill/competence to improve. Many people of the group 50+ feel not motivated and lack of self-confidence to start new activities in their age. They need some help and support by others. They need to be reminded what they know or can. The measure for encouraging them can be the involvement into the training course. The general results of the survey show that people are motivated to acquire or develop new skills in all three sections: Self-empowerment, ICT and Entrepreneurship. Even if many people are uncertain what they need and whether they need it at all they are considering. The reason for this situation can be the lack of knowledge they have in this area or too difficult questions to answer confidently. This study is aimed to be the background for the training programme preparing. The rates of the responses can be the unit of measurement of the programme intensity, duration and selection of topics.

25

29

30

28

24

21

32

26

18

35

28

15

17

17

15

22

20

20

15

20

19

15

76

67

78

73

72

88

68

84

74

79

77

80

84

77

71

77

62

71

69

72

57

68

27

28

24

38

30

31

33

25

40

33

33

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Business planning, startup

Funding

Marketing

Financial planning, management and taxes

Safety at work requirements

Pricing

Labour law requirements

Business development

Customer service

Licensed activities

Managing of the documentation

Entrepreneuship



7.3 Extra charts for analysis

Further more detailed information of the survey is given in pivot charts. Chart 10 shows the results in percentage of the question “Have you ever considered to become self-employed?”: By gender and educational background (all countries in general).

Chart 10. Have you ever considered to become self-employed: By gender, age and educational background in percentage.

Chart 11 shows the results in amount of YES and NO answers of the question “Have you ever considered to become self-employed?”: By gender, age and educational background (all countries in general). Charts 12-16 show the same information but for each country separately.

6%

12%15%

21%

4%

9%

15%

31%30%

18% 20%

25%

19%22%

18%

13%

40%38%

32%

10%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Female Male Female Male

Yes No

General in percentage

Basic Secondary Vocational Higher University degree


Chart 11. Answers to a question “Have you ever considered to become self-employed?”: By gender,

age and educational background – all countries.


age and educational background – Denmark.

1

3

1

43

56

32

4 43

1 1

4

8

4

2

6 6

3

76

76

4

23

78

3

54

6 6

1

45 5

4

10

2 21

3

15

9

3

9

4

11

1

98

12

23

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 60+ 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 +


Yes No

General


1 1 1 1

3

1 11

3

1

2

3

1

2 2

1 11

4

1

3

4

1

3

2

11 1 1 1

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 +


Yes No

Denmark




age and educational background – Finland.


age and educational background – Estonia.

1 1 1 1

2 2 2 2

3

2 2

1

2

5

1

4

1 1

2

1

7

2

1

5

2

3

5

4

3

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 +


Yes No

Finland

Basic Vocational Higher University degree

1

2

1 1

2 2

3

1 1

3 3

1

2

3

1

2

1

2 2

1 1

3

1

3

2

1

2 2

1

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 +


Yes No

Estonia

Basic Secondary Vocational University degree



age and educational background – Latvia.


age and educational background – Lithuania.

1

22

1

4

3 3

1

3

7

1

5

2

5

9

1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

55 - 59 60 + 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 +


Yes No

Latvia


1

6

1

2

1 1

2

1 11 1

2 2

1 1

6

2 2

3

1 1

4 4

1

3

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 + 60+ 50 - 54 55 - 59 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 +


Yes No

Lithuania

Secondary Vocational Higher University degree


Chart 17 shows the dependency of the length of unemployment and educational background, separated by the gender in percentage (all countries in general).

Chart 17. Length of unemployment by gender and educational background – all countries in

general.

61%

76%

53%48%

45%

39%

57% 58%

40%

53%

33%

24% 24%

31%36% 39%

38%33%

25%

13%

6%

0%

24%21% 20%

22%

5%8%

35% 33%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Basic Secondary Vocational Higher Universitydegree

Basic Secondary Vocational Higher Universitydegree

Female Male

Lenght of unemployment in all countries1 - 2 3 - 4 5 +

Survey of general self-employment/entrepreneurship and ...

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