AUSTRALIA
6. Social entrepreneurships and self-employment
The United Nations (2020) defined social entrepreneurship as activities undertaken with the explicit objective of addressing societal problems. It relies on revenue from the sale of goods and services it produces and on non-monetary resources, such as voluntary labour (Noya & Clarence, 2013).
The term ‘youth social entrepreneurship’ is used to describe situations in which young people are social entrepreneurs themselves and are either founders of or partners/employees in youth-led social enterprises. Youth’s talents and capacities are leveraged to create enterprises with the dual goals of social good and financial viability. The activities often provide young people with meaningful opportunities to engage in decision-making regarding potential solutions for global and local social, economic, and environmental challenges (United Nations, 2020). As a personal career option, becoming a social entrepreneur may not be viable for many youth around the world because of family and other responsibilities, and pursuing lower-risk economic activities that provide a steady income may be more compelling (Chigunta, 2017)
Some non-profit organisations focus on improving the employability of young people, and as jobs with employers are scarce in many of the target countries, self-employment is often offered as a pathway into the labour market. Youth in Action (YiA), a six-year programme supported by Save the Children in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, had the objective of improving the socioeconomic
Figure 9. OECD/European Commission (2020) Proportion of new youth entrepreneurs who started a business due to lack of employment opportunities, 2013-17 (derived from special tabulations of data from Adult Population Surveys of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2013-17).
status of around 40,000 out-of-school young people (12-18 years) of both sexes in rural Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Uganda (Moorcroft, 2018). The programme included a combination of non- formal educational and practical learning experiences to increase youth’s foundational skills (literacy, numeracy, transferable life skills, financial literacy, and work-readiness) to pursue one of the five livelihood pathways that the programme offered (see Figure 11). Interestingly, 86% chose the enterprise option, indicating a keenness for self-employment or a lack of jobs with employers. The programme improved the youth’s self-employment capabilities for sustaining their enterprises even though many of the enterprises created were micro in scale and more appropriately classed as ‘constrained’ self- employment.
The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, founded by Muhammad Yunus in the 1980s, is another example of a socially focussed organisation supporting development through lending microcredit to low- income entrepreneurs whom it also encourages to generate a positive impact on their communities by becoming actively involved in politics and development.
7. ‘Gig’ or platform economy and self-employment
The expansion in broadband connectivity, Wi-Fi, cloud computing, and digital telephony is transforming the world of work. Their importance has been highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic when many people were forced to work remotely from home. These technologies have increased the potential
Figure 10. Moorcroft (2018). Five pathways offered to participants in Youth in Action program
Figure 11. OECD (2016b). Possible transactions over online platforms
for youth entrepreneurship. Youth are often the first to embrace new technologies. New technologies have also given rise to digital labour platforms, which allow individuals and businesses to buy and sell services amongst each other and between each other both globally and locally (see Figure 11). While creating new job opportunities for many, the platforms have heralded a new type of work arrangement between the platform providers and workers, which the OECD/European Commission (2020) has called
‘false’ self-employment. The discussion below is mainly about these new arrangements and draws on the recent ILO report: World Employment and Social Outlook: The role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work (ILO, 2021).
Over the past decade, digital labour platforms have increased five-fold (see Figure 12). The platforms can be classified into two broad categories: online web-based and location-based. Tasks performed on online web-based platforms include text translation; legal, financial and patent services;
design and software development; and complex data analytics. The supply of labour for these tasks can be sourced from anywhere in the world and it far outstrips demand, leading to downward pressure on earnings. Tasks on location-based platforms are carried out in person in specified locations. These tasks include taxi services, delivery services, home services (e.g., plumbing, carpentry), and domestic and caring work (ILO, 2021). The types of services being offered on platforms have been increasing.
The platforms act as intermediaries or aggregators who consolidate all kinds of existing information (including products and services) and sort it to match buyers and sellers using algorithms. For example, Uber is an aggregator that compiles a large quantity of information from user profiles and driver locations to match them conveniently and determine how much to charge the customer and how much to pay the service provider (ILO, 2021).
Estimates based on surveys in Europe and North America between 2015 and 2019 showed between 0.3% to 22% of the adult population had performed platform work (ILO, 2021). In Australia, McDonald, Williams, Stewart, Mayes, and Oliver (2020) found that 7.1% of the adult population were working (or offering to work) or had worked on platforms in the last 12 months. Altogether, 13% had at
some time undertaken digital platform work. Of these 39% had undertaken the work only on location- based platforms, 28% on only online web-based platforms, and a third on both. These reports showed that a majority of workers in the platform economy were under 35 years of age, well-educated, and male.
The average hourly earnings of workers on web-based platforms are low, especially when one considers the time spent on unpaid tasks (such as looking for work or building up a profile), competition due to excess labour supply, high commission fees, and non-payment due to rejection of work.
Therefore, while the market efficiency of the platforms could be high because of reduced transaction costs, it comes at the expense of reduced efficiency of production (OECD, 2016a). The unpredictable workflow and the demand to often work unsocial hours has implications for the mental health and overall wellbeing of workers. Ironically, many workers yearned for more hours of work on the platforms in spite of already working long hours, which suggests a lack of alternative work and current earnings that are insufficient for a reasonable livelihood (ILO, 2021).
Platform work has been promoted as allowing individuals opportunities to supplement income from their current jobs by doing work during their spare hours and at times of their choosing. It has the potential to provide workers, including women, people with disabilities, youth, and migrant workers, with income-generating opportunities. Many governments, particularly in developing countries, see these possibilities and have invested in digital infrastructure and skills. In reality, the motivations of those working on the platforms are more complex and do not necessarily match with these ideals. The ILO (2021) reported that workers on location-based platforms cited the lack of alternative employment opportunities, job flexibility, and better pay compared to other available jobs as the key motivation factors. However, for an overwhelming proportion of workers on location-based platforms and for a third on web-based platforms, work on the platforms was their main source of income. Migrants, local and international students, and others outside the national social safety net often work on platforms out of necessity.
The central defining feature of the digital labour platforms is the employment arrangements between the platform and workers. In almost all cases, the arrangements are unilaterally determined and regulated by the platforms through terms of service agreements or contracts of adhesion. The arrangements determine aspects such as working time, pay, customer service etiquette, applicable laws, and data ownership. Most platform operators regard the workers as self-employed under these arrangements, although aspects of the arrangements were more akin to those of an employee relationship. Consequently, workers are typically unprotected by the national workplace health and safety, industrial relations, and social security laws. The arrangements also tend to prevent collective bargaining by workers.
Figure 12. ILO (2021). The rise of digital platform economy