Serbia must urgently adopt regulations to ensure equal protection and benefits for female entrepreneurs, especially freelancers, to employed women, Sofija Popara, a member of the Board of Directors of the Digital Community, told Euractiv Serbia.
The number of entrepreneurs in Serbia is constantly growing, currently exceeding 328,000, with 22,500 new registrations in the first six months of this year, an 11% increase compared to the same period in 2022, according to data from the Business Registers Agency. Only one-third of registered entrepreneurs in Serbia are women.
Female entrepreneurs, especially those engaged in freelance work, are particularly vulnerable, and their exact number is unknown.
“For example, the current system provides no rights for freelancers dedicated to full-time work if they decide to start a family. This issue also arises for entrepreneurs who receive some compensation but must suspend their activities for complete maternity leave pay. This can pose a challenge, especially for business entities such as accounting agencies with employees, where a business interruption can risk client loss”, Popara explained.
Additionally, Popara believes that female entrepreneurs who do not have children, despite being entitled to leave compensation, do not receive contributions during that period, resulting in the loss of a year of seniority.
“This problem disrupts the balance and equality of rights between employed women and women entrepreneurs. Since this area is regulated for employed women, there is no reason not to equalise rights for women entrepreneurs,” Popara believes.
To provide systemic support for women’s entrepreneurship and business development, thereby encouraging the growth of small and medium enterprises, the Serbian government adopted a Regulation at the end of summer establishing a program to promote the development of entrepreneurship through financial support for women’s entrepreneurship in 2023.
The program combines non-repayable funds from the budget and favourable loans from the Development Fund.
(Jelena Jevtić | EURACTIV.rs)
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