Closing the entrepreneurship gender gap would bring huge gains to all of us | Letter from Cherie Blair

As well as boosting global GDP by 2% or $1.5tn, it would unleash new ideas that to drive scientific breakthroughs, fuel solutions to the world’s problems and transform our lives, says Cherie Blair

I hope the government takes notice of Sophia Matveeva’s sobering account of the obstacles facing women business owners (Harassment is just one of the unfair obstacles we women in business face, 26 September). Women’s entrepreneurship represents one of the biggest opportunities of our lifetime. Research suggests that closing the entrepreneurship gender gap could boost global GDP by as much as 2% or $1.5tn, but the ripple effect could go far beyond any financial projection. Imagine the innovations, services and products that would be unleashed into our markets if half the population were able to operate to their full entrepreneurial potential. These new ideas could drive scientific breakthroughs, fuel solutions to the world’s most pressing problems and, ultimately, transform the way we live our lives.
Cherie Blair
Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters

• Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition

Letters

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Delving deeper into the gender pay gap | Letters
Letters: Naomi Wayne says lessons can be learned from 1970s activism. Dr Stephen Vallely says all NHS consultants, whether male or female, are paid on exactly the same salary scale. Danny Dorling takes issue with the the Oxford Diocesan School Trust. And Ann Pask says Britain should not still be waiting for a living wage

Letters

03, Apr, 2018 @5:25 PM

Article image
Courtesy, curtness and my gender pay gap report | Letters
Letters: Kate Andrews of the Institute of Economic Affairs responds to a recent column by Zoe Williams; Elizabeth Manning points out the old pound coins in the illustration accompanying the piece

Letters

24, Apr, 2019 @5:13 PM

Article image
Tackling the gender pay gap requires more than just lip service | Letters
Letters: Reporting should improve the standard of debate, argues Julian Jessop of the Institute of Economic Affairs, while Vanessa Olorenshaw laments a model of equality based on our capitalist system

Letters

10, Apr, 2018 @4:10 PM

Article image
Gender pay inequities in Matt Hancock’s health sphere | Letters
Letters: Dr Carole Easton points out that the Department of Health reports a gender pay gap of 10.5%, as opposed to the 23% in the NHS, while Ted Watson says it is not obesity that has made the health service broke

Letters

25, Apr, 2019 @4:25 PM

Article image
Leading lights in business and music: Sacha Romanovitch and Annie Clark | Letters
Letters: Kate Sutton champions the first female boss of a major City accountancy firm, who is stepping down, and Andy Moorhouse sings the praises of the singer, songwriter and ace guitarist also known as St Vincent

Letters

18, Oct, 2018 @5:28 PM

Article image
How to get good women on boards | Letters
Letters: Companies need to stop looking for women whose backgrounds replicate those of men, writes Barbara Stocking, and Charmaine Fletcher laments how good women are still having to rely on men to employ them

Letters

05, Jun, 2018 @4:18 PM

Article image
Now let’s tackle the political gender gap | Letters
Letters: Companies now have to reveal their gender pay gaps, so why, 90 years after the passing of the Equal Franchise Act, are political parties not required to do the same, asks Jess Garland of the Electoral Reform Society

Letters

02, Jul, 2018 @6:00 AM

Article image
The Guardian view on the gender pay gap: a symptom of deep prejudice | Editorial
Editorial: Women’s work has been systematically undervalued for far too long. Now the scale of the problem cannot be denied

Editorial

04, Apr, 2018 @5:41 PM

Article image
Gender equality and the world of work | Letters
Letters: Working practices need to be overhauled to address the gender pay gap, says Patricia Murphy, and separation from a newborn baby is incredibly painful for many mothers, says Alison Watson

Letters

13, Feb, 2020 @6:38 PM

Article image
Harassment is just one of the unfair obstacles we women in business face | Sophia Matveeva
As a female CEO myself, I have seen the host of extra challenges we face in getting startups off the ground, writes Sophia Matveeva, CEO of the Enty app

Sophia Matveeva

26, Sep, 2018 @11:48 AM