Women-Owned Businesses Grew Dramatically During The Recession

Business ownership among female entrepreneurs, mostly Hispanic and black women, grew dramatically during the Great Recession and afterwards. A Center for Global Policy Solutions report found that entrepreneurs of color – both men and women – grew at a faster rate than white-owned businesses. In fact, closing the gap between minority-owned businesses and their share of the labor force would add an additional 1.1 million more businesses to the U.S. economy, approximately 9.9 million more jobs and a potential $300 billion in income for workers.

During this period, minority women-owned businesses saw the most dramatic growth.  For example, Hispanic women owned 26.5% more businesses in 2012 than they did in 2007 and black women increased the number of firms they owned by 20.2% during that same period. Despite this growth, women-owned businesses continue to lag in sales revenue compared to male-owned firms. In 2012, all male-owned businesses had higher averages sales than all of the firms owned by groups of female business owners.