Women Now Dominating New Businesses

18 June, 2004

Irish and EU farmers will, in the future, not only provide for the maintenance of life but will also be the major players in human and ecological health, a leading economist has predicted.

Professor Lowell Catlett of New Mexico State University told the Teagasc-run international food conference in Dublin that consumers are now in the driving seat. However, he said that farmers who come on board will have the most profitable and fun experience of their lives.

He told the conference that the combination of increasing incomes and declining percentages spent on food and household appliances has yielded the average EU resident an additional 34% of income for other items. The figure for the USA is 28%.

“This has led to bigger and more expensive houses, higher quality cars and more venues for entertainment. In addition, the average EU citizen now lives to 79,” he said.

Professor Catlett said that Europeans and Americans are no longer reproducing themselves. Population stability in Europe requires 2.11 children per female and this rate has not been attained since 1958.

He said women are fast becoming a more dominant feature of the workforce. They also form the fastest growing group in starting businesses, with the number of female owned businesses in the EU and US growing at a staggering 4% annually for the past decade.

“There are now more single-headed households in the USA and Europe than married households with children. This is dramatically changing consumer requirements and expectations,” he said.