Mapping reasons for self-employment: Choice not the only factor

The reasons why people choose self-employment reflect both the choices available to them and the overall economic situation in their country. The sixth EWCS asked workers what was the main driver for becoming self-employed. The answers vary greatly between countries: 86% of self-employed workers in Sweden said they opted for self-employment ‘mainly through own personal preferences’. However, only around one-third of their counterparts in Austria, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro said the the same. And in Serbia, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav  Republic of Macedonia and Albania, at least 50% of respondents said they had ‘no other alternatives for work’.