By Alison Steed

THE RECESSION has prompted many women to improve their position by starting their own businesses, allowing them to spend more time with their children.

As we go into Working Mums Day, the trend for ‘Mumpreneurs’ is increasing, according to a survey by website Mums In Control, and more than half of those questioned said they felt more secure since they started running their own business.

Ironically, two in five mumpreneurs said their profits had actually risen since the start of the economic downturn.

Rachael Taplin, managing director of Mums in Control, said: “Our Working Mums’ Day survey shows that mumpreneurs are more in control of their businesses and their lives. Those who have seen an increase in profits over the last 12 months said that this was as a result of a greater focus on what they need to achieve to succeed.

”The desire for more control extends to family life. Of those questioned, we found that 65 per cent of mums who run their own businesses are driven by the objective of having more flexibility to spend time with their children, and four in five said that since working for themselves their life work balance has actually improved.”

Britain’s businesses are not committed to flexible working to help mums run their family lives effectively, according to nearly nine in 10 of those surveyed, and that is despite three quarters of working mums either being the main breadwinner in the family, or share the financial outgoings with their partner.

That is despite women considering flexible working to be ‘very important’ in terms of choosing a new employer.

However, more business support is needed for those mumpreneurs setting up their own businesses.

Ms Taplin said: “Today Mums in Control celebrate the second Working Mums Day and our survey this year appears to show that this group of mums are very much taking matters under their own control in order to allow them to do their best for their families, while continuing to forge their own careers.”