Research by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) found that 74% of the self-employed workforce remains male and that business opportunities for women have seen little improvement since the early 1990s. This is in contrast to the US, where 40% of the self-employed workforce are women.

A lack of financial backing is cited as the key barrier for women who want to set up in business. Speaking in The Times, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) spokesman Matthew Knowles claims that this lack of financial support can often be related to the types of businesses women want to set up:

"Our surveys have found that women-owned businesses are more likely to be home-based or work part-time. This means that they are even less likely to fit the rigid requirements laid down by most business lenders."

The ESRC is calling for banks and small business advisers to be retrained in order to combat the barriers faced by enterprising women.