News and features

Mon, 24 Jan 2011

Setting up a business 'is the only option for many women'

For a large number of women with children, setting up a business is the only way to balance looking after their offspring with earning a living.

Many women in the UK are finding that setting up a business is the only way that they can cope with the responsibilities of working and having children.

This is the opinion of Tatjana Hine, president of the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs (BAWE), who said that childcare is a "huge burden" on employment.

She noted that a large number of mothers find it impossible to hold down a full time job when they are working for someone else.

However, those who are running a business themselves find it much easier to arrange childcare because they know exactly how long they need someone to look after their children.

The expert admitted that hiring people to look after children is not an "easy option" for people setting up a business.

She explained that there are still a number of difficulties in scheduling care, particularly when there are employees to look after.

Despite this, she asserted that it is often easier to do this when there are no bosses to work round.

"We do have a selection of women who were in banking etc, who found that the only way they could actually live and have children is to start their own businesses," Ms Hine commented.

According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 136,000 children in England and Wales under the age of 16 who were involved in divorces in 2005.

This figure, which is twice the number seen in 1970, might indicate that more single parents will need to opt for flexible working options, such as setting up their own business.

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