This article argues that we can identify three phases of youth enterprise support in the last 25 years. The first of these, 'free-enterprise', is said to have occurred between 1975 and 1981. This period, a reaction to the problems of the 1970s, saw very limited support for enterprise among young people. In the second period, 'enterprise culture' (1981-91), we saw direct intervention by public, private and voluntary agencies to support enterprise among young people. This article argues that the impetus behind this was not ideological, but a pragmatic urge to reduce the endemic unemployment of the 1980s. The article also identifies a third phase, 'enterprising individuals' (1992 onwards) which has seen a greater focus on improving the entrepreneurial skills and abilities of young people. The first section of the article describes each of these three stages of enterprise support. In the second section, I consider empirical evidence on changes in the take-up of self-employment by young people over the last 25 years.
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