Self-employment in Latvia in comparison with the EU Member States
2022
Irmeja, Alona | Leibus, Inguna
Self-employment represents a form of employment and self-employed persons constitute a part of employment policy in the European Union (EU) Member States, including Latvia. In 2020, the proportion of self-employed persons equalled to 12.2% of total employment in Latvia; hence, approaching the average EU indicator (13.4%). The research aim is to perform a comparative analysis of self-employment trends in Latvia and other EU Member States. The analysed period (2011–2019) allows observing various changes in the trends of self-employment such as changes in the age groups and sectors with the increasing number of self-employed persons as well as changes in reasons indicating willingness of individuals to become self-employed. An examination of the statistical portrait of a self-employed person reveals identical characteristics among the EU Member States: it is a male with a secondary education, aged 25–49, having chosen self-employment by his own choice and hiring no other employees. The only difference of statistical portrait lies in the employment status: a manager in Latvia and a professional in the EU. In recent years, the number of self-employed persons aged 50–64, having chosen self-employment due to their personal reasons, hiring no other employees, having acquired an in-depth and comprehensive knowledge and wanting to apply the acquired knowledge in the future tends to increase. Therefore, further research on this group of self-employed persons is recommended to identify the causal relationships and benefits for their engagement in this type of employment.
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