Senior Entrepreneurship in Australia: Active Ageing and Extending Working Lives

As populations live longer, healthier lives in countries like Australia the growing population of older people is increasing the strains on social security and pension systems. Yet many seniors are healthy and want to remain active during the later years in life. Whilst there is significant research on seniors, ageing and the employment of mature-aged people there is scant research on seniors creating jobs as opposed to seeking jobs as employees. This is the first empirical research specifically on senior entrepreneurship in Australia. Seniors often have the skills, financial resources and time available to contribute to economic activity, which leads to the growing prevalence of senior entrepreneurship. Senior entrepreneurship is the process whereby people aged 50+ participate in business start-ups; however, despite representing the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurship little is known about this phenomenon. This research seeks to answer the following questions: What is the scope of senior entrepreneurship in Australia? What are the impacts of senior entrepreneurship in Australia? What perceptions do seniors hold about entrepreneurship as a career option? What policy implications and recommendations can be derived to enhance active ageing, and extend working lives through senior entrepreneurship? A systematic literature review was initiated to guide the study, complimented with analysis from large national databases, namely the Comprehensive Australian Study of Entrepreneurial Emergence (CAUSEE) and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). We developed conceptual themes to frame the study. Qualitative interviews were conducted among available network members and a quantitative survey was distributed amongst National Seniors Australia (NSA) members.