Nearly half of respondents stated that the contact restrictions would have particularly serious business consequences for them. For 41 percent, 'voluntary' customer restraint, for example due to concerns about infection, is also problematic. One-third of young founders are particularly affected by ordered business closures.
Female founders more affected by revenue losses
In the study A clear difference between men and women emerges: 41 percent of self-employed women considered shutdowns particularly damaging to their business, but only 27 percent of men. This difference can be explained primarily by the industry structure. Responding women are more often active in sectors that are more severely affected by coronavirus-related restrictions, such as the catering industry, healthcare and social services, and the arts, culture, and creative industries. In contrast, containment measures had little impact on the IT sector, for example, with its high proportion of men.
Female founders are more affected by revenue losses (45 percent of women compared to 36 percent of men) and are also more likely to experience severe cuts in their standard of living (32 percent compared to 26 percent). One in three young female founders considers it at least likely that they will have to give up because of the coronavirus crisis. Among the men who responded, the figure is just over one in four.
"The unstable course of the pandemic requires flexibility in combating the pandemic. However, this greatly increases uncertainty for the self-employed and those interested in starting a business, which in turn has a negative impact on their prospects of success and their start-up activity,"
says Fritzi Köhler-Geib, Chief Economist at KfW.
"The best way to give self-employed people a perspective and support start-up activity would be to avoid further lockdowns. To achieve this, a 'whatever-it-takes' mentality regarding vaccinations, testing, and contact tracing now seems urgently necessary."
