Women business owners are on the rise
Women-owned firms increased nearly 20 percent over the latest period studied, according to a report released yesterday by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. During the five years between 1997 and 2002, women-owned firms grew by 19.8 percent while all U.S. firms grew by seven percent.
New U.S. Census information and other data to describe women’s contributions to the economy, including the following statistics:
• In 2002, women owned 6.5 million or 28.2 percent of nonfarm U.S. firms. More than 14 percent of these women-owned firms were employers, with 7.1 million workers and $173.7 billion in annual payroll.
• Women-owned firms accounted for 6.5 percent of total employment in U.S. firms in 2002 and 4.2 percent of total receipts.
• Of all women business owners in 2002, 85.95 percent were White, 8.43 percent African American, 8.33 percent of Hispanic heritage, 5.25 percent Asian, 1.23 percent American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.18 percent Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (total does not add to 100 due to some double counting across ethnic groups).
• According to 2002 data, significant proportions of women-owned businesses were in professional, scientific, and technical services, and in health care and social assistance.
If you’d like to learn more, check out the report in PDF format: