The COVID-19 pandemic and the current wars in Ukraine and Middle East have had and continue to have a significant impact on young people in Portugal, particularly regarding to access and integration in the labour market and access to health care.

Public policies have an important role to play in developing entrepreneurial attitudes and training for entrepreneurship.

Several governments in Portugal have implemented programmes and initiatives aimed at increasing the rate at which young people create new companies or social economy entities.

Entrepreneurship and the creation of one´s own job have been seen as a way of promoting economic growth and reducing unemployment.

In the area of youth entrepreneurship, three initiatives stand out:

• The “Concurso Nacional de Jovens Empreendedores” promoted by the Youth Foundation in partnership with Porto City Council, which intends to develop a series of ongoing initiatives aimed at promoting an entrepreneurial culture among young people, while also promoting and affirming Porto as a leading entrepreneurial city.
• The “Concurso Nacional de Jovens Empreendedores 2024” is aimed at young people aged between 15 and 30 with innovative and entrepreneurial projects in the environmental, technological, creative, cultural and social fields.
• The “Pacto Local para a Empregabilidade e Empreendedorismo Jovem”, which is a networking initiative between municipalities committed to offering their young people more and better opportunities for their future, creating conditions for their personal, social and professional development. In line with the European Commission´s guidelines and the principles of the European Year of Youth in 2022 and the European Year of Skills in 2023, the “Pacto Local para a Empregabilidade e Empreendedorismo Jovem”, aims to serve as an informal sharing platform so that municipalities can facilitate opportunities to develop the skills that are critical to quality employability and youth entrepreneurship, and thereby support the settlement of their young people.
• The “Trajetos” programme, created through an Ordinance that was published in February 2022, aims to promote access to education, training, employment or entrepreneurship opportunities for young NEETs. 

Considering that young people are a huge concern of the current Portuguese government and given the problem of youth unemployment and young people´s access to the labour market, future initiatives in this area are expected in Portugal, namely in the field of youth entrepreneurship, which will make it possible to effectively combat this problem while promoting young people´s transition to adult life.