YOUTH 2020 - The position of young people in Slovenia

148 them to promote entrepreneurship in order to strengthen their innova- tion potential and growth (Audretsch, 2003). Together with the influ- ences and incentives of the European Union, the clubs of the most eco- nomically advanced countries (e.g. OECD) and Western countries in general, organisations, and programmes promoting youth entrepre- neurship have also started to emerge in Slovenia (for example the Ven- ture Factory – Entrepreneurship Incubator at the University of Maribor (Tovarna podjemov – Podjetniški inkubator Univerze v Mariboru, estab- lished in 2001), the Ljubljana University Incubator (Ljubljanski podjet- niški incubator, established in 2004), the University Development Center and University Incubator of Primorska (Univerzitetni razvojni center in inkubator Primorske, established in 2005) etc.). “The idea of youth entrepreneurship as entrepreneurship of a specific age group with its own behavioural and business patterns has therefore started to gain momentum” (Kozorog, 2019: 22). At the same time, the entry of young people into the labour market in Slovenia has been uncertain and difficult for a long time, which is also recognised in the current Resolution on the National Youth Programme 2013-2022. The Employment Service of Slovenia’s data show that while the youth employment situation in Slovenia is slowly improving – i.e. youth unemployment is gradually decreasing – youth unemployment in 2020 has slightly increased again and is now comparable to the percent- age of unemployed young people in 2017 (ZRSZ, 2020). Overall, young people remain one of themost vulnerable groups in the labour market, as this age group is largely exposed to precarious forms of employment, such as part-time work, occasional work and student employment, em- ployment through different types of contract work, etc. Self-employment or creating one’s own entrepreneurial path is also one of the solutions proposed for reducing youth unemployment in the National Youth Pro- gramme in its Action Plan for 2018 and 2019. This includes a number of measures to promote youth entrepreneurship, including the measure “Promoting entrepreneurship among young people” in the Implementa- tion Plan of Active Labour Market Policy for the year 2020.