Memorandum submitted by ACCA
ACCA is pleased to provide a written submission
to the inquiry into the implementation of the report of the Women
and Work Commission.
ACCA undertakes research and work on a number
of issues identified in the report, Shaping a Fairer Future.
However, the report misses a key aspect of occupational segregation
in terms of the low number of women who choose to set up their
own business. ACCA calls on the Trade and Industry Inquiry to
examine the role of enterprise as a way for women to break the
occupational and pay gap and puts forward an number of recommendations
as to how government can boost the number of women setting up
in business.
THE ROLE
OF WOMEN'S
ENTERPRISE IN
PROMOTING GENDER
EQUALITY
As the introduction to Shaping a fairer future
points out, there is still a pay and opportunity gap for women,
with women earning some 13% less than men and generally being
crowded into lower-paid occupations. The report addresses a number
of the causes for this problem and makes positive recommendations
in these areas. However, the report misses a huge area which could
potentially change the working landscape for women—entrepreneurship.
Women setting up their own businesses can be
viewed as a means for women to take control in terms of salary
and pension, take control of their working structure—it
is the ultimate flexible working—and there are significant
opportunities for development with no glass ceiling; the business
has the potential to be as large or small as the owner makes it.
Therefore, the Government should also address female entrepreneurship
and look for ways to promote the number of women setting up businesses,
as part of the overall goal to shape a fairer future for women
in society.
If women were to set up businesses as the same
rate as men in the UK, there would be an extra 150,000 businesses
per year. Promoting female entrepreneurship has already been identified
by the UK Government as a focus of activity, given the fact that
women starting up in business will tend to provide a more immediate
contribution to the economy: around one in five women go into
self-employment from unemployment compared with around one in
15 men. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) in 2002 commented
that "Expanding the involvement of women in entrepreneurship
is critical for long-term economic growth".
However, there is a shortfall in the number
of women who set up their own business. Women are half as likely
to be involved in start-up activity as men. Independent start-up
activity amongst women is 3.1% of the female adult population
but is 6% amongst men, while the equivalent figures for job related
start-ups are 1.3% and 2.6% (GEM, 2004). The reasons for this
have been widely researched and ACCA's own research Access
to Finance: women's enterprise and the role of the accountant
2005 shows that women start a business with a third of the finance
as compared with men, are more likely to start their business
from home, more likely to start their business on a part-time
basis and more likely to be responsible for caring responsibilities—all
of which act as a barrier for women starting up businesses. Indeed,
some of the barriers women face in employment are translated into
self-employment.
ACCA RECOMMENDATIONS
TO PROMOTE
WOMEN'S
ENTERPRISE
The work Government is undertaking to promote
gender equality should be extended to enterprise. Government should
work with banks, and other business advisers, such as accountants,
to address some of the challenges in terms of access to finance
and attitudes facing women who want to set up in business.
Government should also consider making small
changes to the tax system which would support women starting up
in business, appreciating the fact that they start their business
with a third of the money as compared with men. ACCA calls for
exemptions from business rates for those running their businesses
from home. ACCA research shows that 63% of women run business
from home compared with 17% of men and this would in some way
address the finance gap. Government should also consider tax relief
on childcare; whilst other aspects of running a business, such
as a Secretary, is eligible for tax relief, childcare has been
neglected and this should be addressed.
ACCA'S WORK
ON GENDER
EQUALITY
ACCA is the largest and fastest growing international
accountancy body, with over 110,000 members and 260,000 students
in 170 countries. In the UK we have 50,000 members (ACCA qualified
accountants) and over 60,000 students.
ACCA has one of the highest number of female
members among professional accountancy bodies. Its policy of encouraging
women stems from its core values of opportunity and access. In
1905, five years after its establishment, ACCA became the first
professional body to open its doors to female accountants and
in 1980, we became the first international accountancy body to
elect a female President. Our rapid expansion in the 1990's was
underpinned by the growth of our female membership, which was
nearly six times higher in 2002 compared to 1991. Over 36,000
ACCA members worldwide—almost 40% of the total—are
female and these figures look set to increase as 51% of the student
base is female.
Accordingly, ACCA has been engaged in a number
of activities on gender equality, with a particular focus on women's
enterprise. ACCA has a number of "Women's Societies"
which organise a range of events for ACCA members, students and
interested parties. We staged a seminar on Women in self-employment:
new opportunities, old challenges in December 2002 which involved
a number of key academics and practitioners and used the findings
to make recommendations to government. In addition, ACCA contributed
to the DTI's Strategic Framework for Women's Enterprise, collaborates
with PROWESS—the UK wide advocacy network and campaigning
body for Women's enterprise and published research in October
2005 Access to Finance: Women's Enterprise and the role of
the accountant which examined the extent to which gender effects
the ability to access finance, the extent to which this is "supply"
or "demand" led and the accountants role in the process.
July 2007
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