Answer: 1988 after HR 5050: Women’s Business Ownership Act was signed
To ask:
What could be the impact of expanding access to business loans? Which women do you think would have had the most access to business loans before/after HR 5050? Where do you see similar differences in business today? What elevated access would you like to see?
Click here for ready-made slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in the classroom.
Behind the numbers (Forbes):
†[2018 was] the 30th anniversary of the HR 5050: Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 (“WBOA”). This was a law introduced by John LaFalce, a former New York congressman, to promote the success of female entrepreneurs. The passing of this law recognized how women could change the entrepreneurial landscape and allowed women to take out business loans in their own name for the first time. This is the first legislation to recognize the importance of women entrepreneurs in the national economy – and it was made just 30 years ago.
What exactly was going on before this law was passed? Before this law was passed in 1988, women were required to have a male relative to co-sign business loans. The definition of “male relative” can vary from a woman’s husband to her own child. During the committee hearings, a speaker explained that she could sign the loan with the help of her 17-year-old son as a co-signer, but that she would not receive a loan based on gender alone.”
†
Also check out the NGPF blog called Math Monday: Celebrating Women Mathematicians!
†
This post Question of the day [Women’s History Month]: In what year were women in the US first able to get a business loan without the signature of a male relative?
was original published at “https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-womens-history-month-in-what-year-were-women-in-the-us-first-enabled-to-get-a-business-loan-without-the-signature-of-a-male-relative/”