Women employer firms continue to show strength: similar survival rates, fewer job losses from 1997-2001

Citation

(2005), "Women employer firms continue to show strength: similar survival rates, fewer job losses from 1997-2001", Women in Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/wimr.2005.05320dab.004

Women employer firms continue to show strength: similar survival rates, fewer job losses from 1997-2001

Women employer firms continue to show strength: similar survival rates, fewer job losses from 1997-2001

Keywords: Women, Employment, Entrepreneurs, United States of America

Between 1997 and 2001, women-owned employer establishments were just as likely as all employer establishments to have remained in business, and exhibited more employment resiliency than average. This information is contained in a new Issue in Brief, “Trends in Women-Owned Employer Establishments: 1997 to 2001” published in February 2005 by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), USA. As the result of an unprecedented agreement made with the Census Bureau, the NWBC is now publishing information on trends in the number and employment of women-owned employer establishments by state and industry. This is the only such data available annually between census years, allowing the NWBC to provide more detailed and timely intelligence on trends in women’s entrepreneurship. “Trends in Women-Owned Employer Establishments: 1997 to 2001” focuses on two key measures: survival and changes in employment. The brief features detailed tables by state and industry.

More than two-thirds (69.8 percent) of the employer business locations in existence in 1997 were still in operation four years later in 2001. Women-owned employer establishments were nearly as likely to have remained in business over the period (68.5 percent survived). Women-owned employer firms proved to be more resilient than employer firms overall during the period, reporting a 9.3 percent decline in employment among those firms in business in 1997, compared to a 10.9 percent decline among all establishments. Among those employer establishments that were still in business in 2001, similar percentages of women-owned and all establishments increased employment (42 and 43 percent, respectively), while a great percentage of women-owned establishments held their employee base (27 percent compared to 24 percent of all businesses), and a smaller percentage of women-owned establishments saw a decrease in employment (31 percent compared to 33 percent of all businesses).

“With this new report, the NWBC continues to serve the women’s business community and key policy makers by providing them with information that further demonstrates the economic contribution of women-owned enterprises,” said Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman and CEO of Carlson Companies and Chair of the National Women’s Business Council. “This analysis shows that women-owned firms are a strong, vital force in the nation’s economy – losing fewer employees and surviving at equal rates when compared to all businesses. It’s further testament to women’s business leadership.”

As expected, four-year survival rates are somewhat lower than the three-year rates shown in a similar analysis published one year ago. In our previous Issue in Brief analyzing changes over the 1997-2000 period (published in January 2004), three-quarters (75.1 percent) of women-owned employer establishments in existence in 1997 were still in operation as of 2000, as were 75.5 percent of all employer establishments. Then – as now – women-owned businesses exhibit the same tenacity and survival rates as the average US employer firm.

The complete Issue in Brief includes detailed information on trends over the period 1997-2001 in establishment survival and employment change by industry and by state. It can be found at the NWBC’s web site at www.nwbc.gov/ResearchPublications/issuesBrief.html