Employment

Women Starting Up Home Businesses

Starting a small business is a natural for women who want to work but need to stay at home with their children. So moms by the thousands are founding their own firms.

  • Between 1987 and 1996, the number of firms owned by women increased 78 percent -- outpacing overall business growth by two to one.

  • There were an estimated 350,000 such home-based businesses 15 years ago, increasing to about 3.5 million by 1995.

  • Roughly three out of four home-based women business owners are college educated, generally in their 30s or 40s, usually married with children and have prior work experience.

  • The average age of home-based businesses owned by women is 6.1 years, according to the National Foundation for Women Business Owners.

About one-third of these home businesses are one-person businesses. But experts say the rest probably employ a total of about 10 million people, in addition to the owners.

Source: Luisa Kroll, "Entrepreneur Moms," Forbes, May 18, 1998.

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