In September 2020, Female Founders Alliance surveyed a diverse group of professional women and non-binary individuals with high likelihood of having entrepreneurial aspirations. 38% of the group identify as BIPOC and 5% use they/them pronouns. This is what we found.
Changes in employment
From our sample, during Covid19, the percent of stay-at-home parents increased four fold, while the percent of unemployed individuals looking for work tripled.
A decrease in entrepreneurship
Before the pandemic, 87% of our sample were somewhat or highly likely to leave their job and start a company. Six months later, 51% of them have delayed or completely scrapped these plans. The primary reason was finances – including the need for a steady paycheck and benefits, and the challenges raising capital for their company.
The huge pressure on moms
A fifth of respondents lost all or most of their childcare. 70% of those with school-aged children are now responsible for their remote learning. 45% are fully or mostly responsible for the additional workload brought on by the pandemic – even though most are still employed and living with a partner.
The silver lining
16% of those who had entrepreneurial aspirations (14% of all respondents) ended up starting a company in the past 6 months, sooner than they had been planning to. The majority of them did it because an opportunity came up that was too good to wait.
