| The Changing Face of Entrepreneurship |
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The number of self-employed mid-life women has grown substantially over the past few years and is expected to increase even more among the aging “baby boomer” generation. A study conducted in 2003 by the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) found the number of women business owners over age 40 to be 3.8 million, more than double the 1979 level. Another study found that the rate of self-employment tends to increase among women later in life. For example, only 6% of employed women aged 25 to 54 were self-employed, but this proportion increased to 9% for women aged 55 to 64, and to 14% for women 65 or older. A recent study by AARP shows that the number of self-employed people over the age of 50 has jumped 23 percent since 1990 to 5.6 million individuals, with men slightly outnumbering women. Although men still outnumber women in terms of entrepreneurship, the number of women-owned businesses continues to grow at twice the rate of all firms in the United States. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, one in eighteen women in the U.S. is a business owner. Women business owners are becoming increasingly diverse – in terms of race, size and type of business owned, and age. In focus group interviews that we conducted among mid-life women who have started their own business, we found the following reasons to be the driving force behind their entrepreneurial activity:
A survey conducted by the Associated Press found that most baby boomers expect to retire around age 63 — but 66 % of them expect to work for pay after retiring.
Whatever the motivation, there is no doubt that the level of entrepreneurial activity among mid-life women has grown over the past few years and is expected to increase substantially in the future. |
Mid-Life Women Are Changing the Face of Entrepreneurship
