Female Entrepreneurship
There are approximately 1,013,000 self-employed women (7.6% of women in
employment) and 2,706,000 self-employed men (17.4% of men in employment) in
the UK. (Women's Business Ownership, Professor Sara Carter, 2006)
In the UK, women-owned businesses comprise approximately 16% of the business
stock and women comprise approximately 27% of the self-employed population.
(Women's Business Ownership, Professor Sara Carter, 2006)
Total Early Stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rates for women in the UK are
3.9% of the total working age female population. This compares with 6.2% of
the total (male and female) population. The female entrepreneurial activity
rate is only half that of male entrepreneurial activity. (Women's Business
Ownership, Professor Sara Carter, 2006)
The most entrepreneurial age group for females is 35 – 44 (Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor, London Business School, February 2006)
Just 15 % of all businesses are majority female owned (Promoting Female
Entrepreneurship, SBS, March 2005)
If the UK could achieve the same levels of female entrepreneurship as the US,
Britain would gain three quarters of a million more businesses. (Chancellor
of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, Advancing Enterprise Conference, 04.02.05)
There are roughly 620,000 majority women owned businesses in the UK generating
around £130 billion turnover. (Rt Hon Jacqui Smith, Minister for Women and
Equality speaking at 2nd Prowess conference)
If women started businesses at the same rate as men, we would have 150,000
extra start-ups each year. (Rt Hon Jacqui Smith, Minister for Women and
Equality speaking at 2nd Prowess conference)
54% of women start a business so they can choose what hours they work,
compared to only 35% of men. (Women & Men Business Owners in the United
Kingdom)
21% of women state family commitments as a reason for becoming self-employed
compared to only 2% of men (A Strategic Framework for Women’s Enterprise,
Small Business Service, 2003)
A third of the female population would start a business if it wasn’t for the
fear of failure (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2003)
Figures from www.prowess.org.uk
