King's College London

New research from the King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL) at King’s Business School has found women entrepreneurs face a hidden ‘care penalty’ that undermines their wellbeing and limits business potential.

It found women with higher wellbeing lead stronger-performing firms, are less likely to exit entrepreneurship and generate wider benefits for their families and communities.

Yet the research also showed that entrepreneurship does not automatically offer the flexibility and autonomy often assumed for those with caring responsibilities. Instead, structural barriers including childcare access, funding norms, entrepreneurship-stereotypes that exclude women, and long-hours expectations create additional strain for women founders.

Drawing on 40 years of global research and in-depth interviews with UK entrepreneurs, the study showed that wellbeing is not just a personal issue. It directly shapes business performance, persistence and growth, and is itself shaped by societal norms and structures.

The research also highlights that women experience wellbeing differently. It is often relational, shaped by family, networks and community. It evolves over time as careers and responsibilities change from physical fitness to purpose and meaning often leading seasoned women entrepreneurs to support other women entrepreneurs as a way of not just giving back but re-shaping the structures that hold women back.

A central finding is the ‘entrepreneurial care penalty’. Women founders, particularly mothers, face time, financial and structural pressures that make it harder to sustain and scale businesses. These challenges are not about individual choices but reflect how entrepreneurial systems are designed.

The report also finds that women’s wellbeing is driven not only by financial success but by non-financial outcomes such as customer satisfaction, community contribution and purpose. While entrepreneurship offer autonomy and meaning; long hours, uncertainty and lack of support can significantly undermine wellbeing.

In light of these challenges, women entrepreneurs must actively manage and protect their wellbeing. The study identifies key practices including building supportive networks, investing in skills, setting boundaries and creating space for reflection.

Recommendations include improving access to affordable childcare, designing more flexible accelerator programmes, ensuring bias-aware funding, broadening and diversifying what ‘counts’ as entrepreneurship, and embedding wellbeing into entrepreneurship education.

The report, Women Entrepreneurs and Their Well-Being: Building Well-Being for Sustainable Success, was launched at a special event on 15 April and forms part of the WeWell research project.