Satisfactions comparisons: women with families, full-time and part-time self-employed

Abstract

Purpose: In spite of numerous political initiatives, the proportion of self-employed women in Germany has stagnated. This paper aims to offer a new perspective on this problem. The investigation and data gathered about job and life satisfaction of women with families can provide information on the reasons for starting a business, and the low participation of women in entrepreneurial activity. Design/methodology/approach: After a literature review, representative German panel data is analysed to investigate the job and life satisfaction of full- and part-time self-employed women with a family. Findings: Self-employed women with families who work full-time are more satisfied with their jobs than those who work part-time. There is no statistically significant difference between these two groups with respect to their life satisfaction. Research limitations/implications: An implication of the results suggests new ideas and a new focus by policy makers and politicians when trying to increase the quantity of women with families engaging in self-employment. A limitation is that a lack of “within” variation in the data means that the panel nature of the survey cannot be usefully incorporated into the investigation. Originality/value: Until now, there is limited research about the work and life satisfaction of women with a family comparing full- and part-time self-employment. This analysis is potentially valuable because the number of part-time self-employed women is substantially higher than the number of full-time self-employed women. We find evidence that such women may instead prefer full-time self-employment.