Is Self-employment a Precarious Job for Mothers of Young Children? A Comparison of the Experience of Czech and Ukrainian Entrepreneurs with Small Children in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Entrepreneurship may be associated with independence and profi t, but it may also be a precarious type of employment. Self-employment is often a strategy for those groups of workers who face marginalisation and disadvantages on the labour market, such as mothers of young children or migrants. In this paper we use an intersectional approach and draw on the theory of precarity to analyse how Czech and Ukrainian entrepreneurs with small children (in the Czech Republic) describe and perceive precarity in self-employment. Our analysis shows that entrepreneurship is a form of precarious work, especially for mothers of young children. Their social position, which forms on the intersection of gender, caring commitments, and/or migration status, serves to constrain or allow certain career choices. While the main source of disadvantage for Czech entrepreneurs is the intersection of gender and caring commitments (e.g. in work-life balance), the social position of Ukrainian entrepreneurs (in the Czech Republic) is much more precarious because of their status as migrants (e.g. their low income from business is further reduced by the cost of private insurance, the paying of remittances, or the repayment of debts for migrating to the Czech Republic).