Self-Employment Up for Women and Ethnic Groups

by: Carole Matthews

Between 1979 and 2003, the number of self-employed women, blacks, and Latinos has risen sharply, according to a report released late last year by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Overall, a 5% increase in self-employment rates occurred across ethnic groups and gender.

“The increase in self-employment rates for women, blacks, and Latinos show that small-business ownership can move minorities and women further into our economic mainstream,” said Thomas M. Sullivan, Chief Counsel for Advocacy, in a statement. The study revealed that the rate of self-employment increased 33% for women, 37% for blacks, and 15% for Latinos. The male rate of selfemployment increased 2.5%, while the white rate increased 10%. (Rate is the number of self-employed divided by the number of those in the labor force.)

Microdata from the U.S. Census Bureau/U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey was used to update an existing report to arrive at the numbers. All in all, the number of nonagricultural self-employed reached 12.2 million in 2003, an increase of 716,000 over the year 2000.