Women Small-Business Owners in U.S. More Worried About Recession

(Bloomberg) -- Female small-business owners in the U.S. are more likely to be concerned than their male counterparts that a recession will have an impact on their business in the next 12 months, according to a survey.

Forty-nine percent of women small-business owners -- compared to 40% of men -- said they are concerned about the prospect of a recession and the impact it would have on their business, according to a Capital One Financial Corp. survey called the Small Business Growth Index, released Monday.

The poll of 500 small businesses was conducted from July 29 to Aug. 22 and has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

“Often times what we see is that women small-business owners are just a bit more cautiously optimistic, and they’re also a bit more risk averse than their male counterparts,” Jenn Flynn, head of Capital One’s small-business bank, said in a phone interview. “Women are known to take calculated risks, but they appreciate the time to prepare for the change.”

Women small-business owners were also less likely -- at 57% compared to 67% of male owners -- to say President Donald Trump’s administration is “on the right track” as it relates to their business.

Overall, 65% of small-business owners said the 2020 U.S. presidential election will have an impact on their business, with their main concern being rising taxes.

To contact the reporter on this story: William Edwards in Washington at wedwards29@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle

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