Women are the economic backbone of American families, with over 40% of mothers serving as the sole or primary breadwinners for their households, and approximately 15 million American families headed by women with no spouse present.

Despite their critical financial role, women continue to face significant barriers in traditional workplaces, where they earn only 81% of men’s median weekly earnings and are twice as likely to be mistaken for more junior employees. The glass ceiling remains stubbornly intact, with women representing only 28% of C-suite positions and ~11% of Fortune 500 CEOs.

When it comes to entrepreneurship, the funding gap is even more stark: in 2024, female-only founding teams received merely 2.3% of the $289 billion invested globally in venture capital, while all-male founding teams captured 83.6% of total funding.

Female entrepreneurs face an additional layer of complexity that often goes unrecognized: they carry a disproportionate share of household and caregiving responsibilities. Women globally spend 2.8 more hours per day than men on unpaid care and domestic work, with American women performing 78% of the total value of unpaid household work. Working mothers spend an average of 37 hours per week on this labor while also managing their professional responsibilities.

Even in “egalitarian marriages” where both spouses contribute equally to household income, women still spend more than twice as much time on housework (4.6 hours per week versus 1.9 hours for men) and nearly two additional hours weekly on caregiving.

This means female founders are not only building companies and supporting their families financially, but simultaneously managing the invisible infrastructure that keeps households running—from coordinating children’s schedules to handling meal preparation, which alone accounts for 25.8% of all household tasks. The result is that female entrepreneurs are essentially operating two full-time roles, making their business achievements even more remarkable and underscoring why they deserve targeted support and investment.

By focusing on female founders, we’re not just supporting individual entrepreneurs—we’re investing in leaders who understand firsthand the challenges of building businesses while often serving as their families’ primary financial providers, and who have the determination to succeed despite facing systemic barriers that their male counterparts simply don’t encounter.