Paper Title
PROMINENCE OF YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE PHILIPPINES IN THE POST-PANDEMIC ERA

Abstract
This study will look into the emergence of youth entrepreneurship in the Philippines in the post-pandemic era, focusing on motivators, challenges, and supportive structures that impact young Filipinos aged 18-30 to engage in entrepreneurship rather than taking a traditional job. A descriptive qualitative research method will be adopted in this research. Primary data are generated through semi-structured interviews with 10 young Filipino entrepreneurs, while secondary data from existing literature will support and validate the findings. The findings reveal the most important motives of youth entrepreneurship, which include economic necessity, dissatisfaction with traditional employment, desire for independence, and family influence. Most of the participants considered personal fulfillment and passion for the venture as significant driving factors. Flexibility and work-life balance that entrepreneurship allows, besides being one's own boss, were singled out as strong advantages that enable young entrepreneurs to focus on personal and familial commitments. Despite this, the respondents also reported a variety of significant challenges, including finance management, competition, customers, and operation challenges. All these challenges highlight the improvement that needs to be made with regard to the policy and programmatic support for young entrepreneurs, especially with respect to entrepreneurial finance literacy and business management aspects. The turning point in their entrepreneurship journey, as identified from this study, is social support-such as emotional and financial support-from family and friends. The research also showed that the majority of respondents were operating in retail and service-based industries, hence showing the possibility of growing such industries. Thematically analyzed data showed that the pandemic reshaped priorities among the youth, fostering a shift toward entrepreneurship as a pathway to resilience, self-sufficiency, and economic contribution. This paper contributes to the knowledge of youth entrepreneurship in the Philippines by bringing forth insight into motivation, challenges, and support systems that define the phenomenon in the post-pandemic landscape. Such findings have wide-ranging implications for policy, educators, and other stakeholders promoting entrepreneurship as a valid career choice for young Filipinos. By dealing with the barriers and reinforcing the enabling factors, as noted in this study, the stakeholders would have facilitated a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem that could absorb economic growth and include the youth as active agents of change.