Women are going into business - so what is the problem?

16% of female employees among top earners in finance

Female entrepreneurs are stepping up in their hundreds of thousands, with many seeing self-employment as a source of flexible working that lets them balance working with family life.

But in putting family first, many are sacrificing their future financial freedom. UK women's self-employment increased nearly 150% between 1984 and 2018, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and has been growing more quickly since the downturn after the 2008 financial crisis - in that time it has jumped from 1 million to 1.6 million women working for themselves. Breaking into the boardroom: Tackling the seniority gap A major reason for women becoming self-employed is to avoid or lower the heavy cost of childcare on the family. The OECD reported in April that th...