New research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance has found that single parent business owners work some of the longest hours in the country and are 20% more likely to be working this bank holiday than the average small business owner.
Two in five single-parent business owners (40%) say they always work on a bank holiday, whilst a further 48% say they have worked on the bank holiday on occasion. This was higher than the national average (33%), and almost twice as high at the average female business owner (25%)
More broadly, asking about the average number of hours worked each week, the research found that single parents business owners worked an hour and a half more than the average business owner. In fact, only entrepreneurs with more than one business and ex-military business owners put in more hours, while single parents worked longer hours than the average family run business, and almost 5 hours a week longer than the average female business owner.
Overall, 63% of single parent business owners work more than the standard 35-hour week (compared with the national average of 60%) – working on average a 36 hour week (compared with 35 hours a week on average for business owners – full-time and part time combined). One in 10 say they do a 50 hour week, while 4% say they do a 60 hour week.
Joanna Morris, Head of Marketing & Insight at Hitachi Capital Business Finance, commented:
“At a time of unprecedented anxiety and market uncertainty, understanding outlook from the small business community has never been more important – and our research suggests that we need to look beyond industry sector or size to fully appreciate the variety of ways small business owners are thinking and reacting to current issues. Our latest research suggests that single parent business owners are working through bank holidays, many juggling the pressures of home and family life and unable to take the extra day off.”
“Hitachi Capital Business Finance understands that every single business owner faces a variety of challenges – some unique to them. Tailoring a service that acknowledges this is key to helping them to grow in the long term.”
Proportion of small business owners that say they always work on a bank holiday (by demographic profile group)
| Single Parent | 40% |
| Online business | 38% |
| People that own/run more than one business | 38% |
| LGBTQ or Transgender | 38% |
| Family owned | 36% |
| Ex-military / veteran | 35% |
| Non-rural | 33% |
| Rural | 31% |
| Previously worked for a large company | 31% |
| Male | 38% |
| Female | 26% |
| National average of business owner | 33% |
Average number of hours worked (Business owners, part-time and full-time)
| Ex-military | 43.70 |
| People that own/run more than one business | 36.64 |
| LGBTQ or Transgender | 36.36 |
| Single parent | 36.34 |
| Family owned | 36.04 |
| Female Business owners (total) | 31.51 |
| Male Business owners (total) | 37.00 |
| Average Owner | 35.06 |
