Our study employs empirical analysis to examine the well-being of young entrepreneurs, using data from a comprehensive longitudinal household survey conducted in the UK. This survey spans eleven waves covering the period from 2009 to 2021 and includes over 122,000 individuals. Our research extends the current literature by exploring variations in entrepreneurial well-being along the urban-rural continuum for young individuals engaged in self-employment. Young entrepreneurs show significant differences both with other young employees and with older entrepreneurs. Young self-employed individuals exhibit higher job satisfaction compared to their peers working for others, although they report lower income satisfaction. Additionally, they demonstrate lower levels of overall life and income satisfaction compared to older self-employed individuals and are more inclined towards participation in the “gig economy”. These findings underscore the importance of considering age when assessing well-being disparities. To do so, we employ a Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) methodology to compare the well-being outcomes of younger and older individuals transitioning from waged employment to self-employment. Our findings reveal that young entrepreneurs have significantly lower subjective well-being than their older counterparts. However, those who remain in waged employment display lower job satisfaction but report higher levels of subjective well-being.

Co-authors

Professor Maria Abreu, University of Cambridge