Women in Business

You may know that International Women's Day is Thursday 9th March, but did you know in the USA, it wasn’t until 1988 that Congress passed the Women’s Business Ownership Act. This eliminated outdated laws that required a husband’s signature on business documents and bank lending discrimination. It also enabled female entrepreneurs to apply for government contracts.

Thankfully we have come a long way since then!

Here are some fascinating facts from across the world.

• ?58% of newly self-employed people in the UK are female
• ?About 7.9 million people are employed by women in business in the US.
• The US, Germany, and Greece had fewer female board members than predicted but women made it to board level stayed there longer than men.
• Companies from the US, Hong Kong, and Mexico have the longest-serving female directors.
• Ghana, a country in West Africa has the highest percentage of women-owned businesses.

However, in the UK we still have some catching up to do as only 5.6% of women run their own business, compared to 15% in Canada, 11% in the USA and 9% in Australia. ?