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Most black-owned business run by women
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ACCORDING to the 2005 London Annual Business Survey, black-owned businesses are more likely to be run by women than businesses in other groups. This is despite the many significant barriers that black women face when entering the labour market.
For example, the unemployment rate for black African women currently stands at 12%, almost triple that of the national unemployment rate. Despite this, many black women are stepping up to the challenge and starting their own business. The younger generation in particular are turning to self-employment as both a route into work and as a response to market demand.
Traditionally, many black and ethnic minorities have turned to self-employment to counteract some of the barriers they have faced in the wider labour market. |
According to the Equal Opportunities Commission report, Moving on Up, young Pakistani, Bangladeshi and African Caribbean women are more likely than white women to be unemployed, less likely to be in senior roles and are even more concentrated than white women in a narrow range of jobs and sectors.
Black business women make an important contribution to the British economy. But while there are a number of successes, many of these women continue to experience difficulty in accessing services and information on the type of business support available to them.
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