Author:    Sharon Hadary
Source:    The Center for Women's Business Research
May 22,2007

The recent flurry of articles in the media regarding the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, which points to a 6 percent drop in the number of married women with children under the age of 12 months in the labor force, exhibits our common and contradictory views of what we think women ought to be and do. To date, the authors have lamented or celebrated that women are opting out of the labor force to focus on raising their children.

It is not surprising that conservative commentators view this drop as evidence that mommy does indeed know best--and “best” is staying home to focus on parenting or that feminists, such as Linda Hirshman, writing in the New York Times on April 26, worry that the so-called “opt-out” revolution will create a generation of women who, by exiting public life, will squander away, not only their talents, but their impact on society. What is surprising is that both sides ignore what at least some of these women are doing at home in addition to raising their children: they are starting businesses.

Rather than withdrawing from the economy and shutting down their ambitions, an extraordinary number of women have taken direct control of their destinies through business ownership. In fact, today there are more than 10 million women who own and lead businesses! During the past 20 years, the number of majority women-owned firms has continued to grow at two times the rate of all businesses, and currently there are 10.4 million woman-owned firms in the US which represents 4 in 10 privately-held businesses. Nearly one in ten American women is a business owner. Woman owned businesses employ more than 12.8 million Americans and generate 1.9 trillion dollars in sales. According to the US census bureau, forty-one percent of women business owners are under the age of 45 compared to 36 percent of men business owners—suggesting that business ownership is a definite option for women who may have children at home.

Self-employment is not easy, yet it offers mothers the possibility of balancing family life while continuing their professional aspirations. And, to be sure, women start businesses for many reasons—greater flexibility to balance family and work, to hone their skills as entrepreneurs, or to pursue a winning idea or a new market niche.

Business ownership is the most direct route to economic independence and wealth generation. Even businesses that start small with personal agendas, provide financial and psychic benefits and impact the economy.

The assumptions we hold frame our debate. As long as the debate is limited to women's waged labor and excludes women's move into business ownership, we will continue to endorse the false assumption that women are abandoning their career ambitions for home and motherhood. Millions of American women are reinventing how works gets done by opening their own businesses and the current debate marginalizes this vital economic force. The facts demand that we re-cast the debate.