By Jackie Waring

COVID-19 has not only had a more profound impact on people on lower incomes and those from the BME community, women are also bearing the brunt of the crisis. While they may be less likely to die from coronavirus exposure, they are being disproportionately affected by the ensuing impact of the pandemic.

An International Monetary Fund report highlighted how women are being hardest hit by lockdowns and social distancing measures as they are more likely than men to work in social sectors including retail, tourism, and hospitality where job losses have been most widely felt.

As they incur a higher proportion of the financial pain of Covid, UK women are also taking on much of the responsibility in maintaining vital services and caring for those who have contracted the virus. Data published by the think tank Autonomy showed that females represent 77 per cent of the three million people in "high-risk" jobs and they account for 98% of the estimated one million key workers being paid beneath the poverty line.

The pandemic is also being felt by women within the entrepreneurial community. Research from a number of organisations has shown that investment in female-founded companies has fallen since the pandemic, a reversal of a trend that had been going in the opposite direction for some years now.

According to the international business data platform Crunchbase, more than 800 female-founded start-up businesses across the globe received a total of $4.9 billion in venture funding in 2020, a 27% decline from the same period last year. Last month Crunchbase reported that just 10 of the 120 new companies joining its Unicorn Board had a female founder.

Meanwhile a report by US-based Pitchbook Data also highlighted the affect Covid is having on company investment, especially on those which have been founded or co-founded by women. It found that investment in businesses with all-male teams fell by 16% in 2020 compared to the first three quarters of 2019. Female-founded company investment, however, declined by 31% and represented less than a quarter of the money invested in US companies in 2020.

These same issues are pertinent here in Scotland and across the UK. While groups like Investing Women have now invested nearly £2m into mainly female-founded companies, I know of many businesswomen who are struggling to secure investment in the current financial climate.

Given that women account for more than half of the UK population and are already under-represented as business founders, these are worrying developments which threaten to turn back the clock and could impede economic growth.

At this time of crisis where numerous groups are understandably appealing for special assistance, addressing this decline in investment in female-founded businesses is in everyone’s interest and will require real focus from the investment community, government and other relevant stakeholders.

The intended outcome must not only be about reversing the impact of Covid but also increasing the overall proportion of female-founded businesses over the long term. This will be essential in growing the economy as post-Brexit Britain emerges from the pandemic.

Jackie Waring is CEO of Scotland’s first all-female business angel group, Investing Women.