Social entrepreneurship can offer young people job opportunities and targeted services and can empower them to be economically and socially active — all of which can have a profound impact on their communities (Abdou and others, 2010). Presently, about 90 per cent of young people worldwide live in low-income regions.
They create economic value: By creating jobs, producing income, and nurturing an entire network of business partners—suppliers, shipping companies, lenders, and utility companies—social entrepreneurs contribute to the economic renewal of the region or country where they live and operate.
Why do we need youth entrepreneurship?
youth entrepreneurship is important in addressing high unemployment (approximately twice the adult rate). Young people are more likely to prefer self-employment than adults, but at the same time their rate of self-employment is much less.
Social enterprise and entrepreneurship programs nurture young people’s skills to develop career pipelines and start businesses, solve local problems, and support economic development.
While a general and common business entrepreneurship means taking a lead to open up a new business or diversifying the existing business, social entrepreneurship mainly focuses on creating social capital without measuring the performance in profit or return in monetary terms.
Social entrepreneurship is important because it provides a framework for businesses to find their own success in the pursuit of helping others. It’s a constant source of motivation for employees, especially for Generation Y, which is increasingly skeptical about the traditional corporate work environment.
How can entrepreneurs help the youth?
1. Volunteer to speak at local high schools and colleges about entrepreneurship. 2. Volunteer to be a judge at DECA, FBLA, NFTE and other youth leadership competitions.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
- Find Areas Of Interest To Get Them Involved. …
- Help Them Embrace Their Passion For Social Good. …
- Teaching Empathy Is Key. …
- Youths Are Seeking Meaningful Opportunities. …
- Show Others Pursuing Social Entrepreneurship.
A social entrepreneur is interested in starting a business for the greater social good and not just the pursuit of profits. Social entrepreneurs may seek to produce environmentally-friendly products, serve an underserved community, or focus on philanthropic activities.
According to the new report, early-stage social entrepreneurial activity, measured by the percentage of adults between the age of 18 and 64 who are currently trying to start a social purpose business is at a global average of 3.2% – ranging from 0.3% (South Korea) to 10.1% (Peru).