What would the economy get out of increasing rates of female entrepreneurship?
• Business start-ups, or wider self-employment, whether male or female, are crucial to employment and productive growth. Government and many other bodies are already dedicated to promoting enterprise and entrepreneurship in the regions, but women remain a largely untapped resource. • Women owned businesses already contribute hugely to the economy: • Women in small business ownership make an estimated £50-70 Billion annual contribution to the gross value added by business • Women starting up in business will tend to provide a more immediate contribution to the economy (GDP): • Around one in five women come into self-employment from unemployment compared with around one in fifteen for men • Women owned businesses can make a real impact: • Business creation and employment – recent estimates suggest that every 100 businesses started up leads to around 260 jobs in the economy • Women-owned businesses in the US employ an estimated 19 million people. This is one seventh of all those employed
