Our Research
In January 2024, Colorado launched the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program, offering up to 12 weeks of paid leave for workers dealing with serious health or family-related needs. While many small business owners support paid leave and value taking care of their employees, they’ve faced hurdles navigating FAMLI.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, reproductive healthcare access has changed dramatically across the country. These changes aren’t just affecting individuals—they’re also impacting small businesses. To develop a deeper understanding of how access to reproductive health services impacts entrepreneurs, Small Business Majority held three focus group discussions in January 2025 with 16 diverse small business owners from across nine states.
As a new Congress and administration have come into power and dramatically changed a number of federal policies, it’s important that policymakers take the views of entrepreneurs into account. One major change on the minds of small business owners is the president’s announcement of proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and recently enacted 10% tariffs on Chinese imports.
Small business owners know it makes good business sense to care for their employees, and they also genuinely care for the people who work for them. However, they often struggle to provide key benefits, including paid family and medical leave, which they believe would help them recruit and retain their workers. A new national scientific opinion poll conducted for Small Business Majority and the National Partnership for Women & Families by Lake Research Partners found that 79% of small business owners support the creation of a national paid family and medical leave program that would guarantee employees wage replacement for up to 12 weeks, funded by 0.5% employer and employee contributions each.
Small Business Majority’s new national opinion poll of small business owners reveals that a plurality has benefited from government, private, or nonprofit programs designed to support a specific demographic group. This includes government agencies and federally-backed programs such as SBA’s 8(a) program, Women’s Business Centers and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund as well as private grant and loan programs, consulting through chambers of commerce, and support provided through business incubators and accelerators. These programs have helped them with general business success and growth, access to capital and one-on-one mentoring and guidance.
Small Business Majority’s new national opinion poll of small businesses reveals that they believe they’re not competing on a level playing field in the federal tax system with large corporations. While many small business owners are aware of and take advantage of the 20% pass-through deduction, the benefits of this deduction are skewed in favor of a small number of the wealthiest businesses. As a result, they support several reforms, including a fixed standard deduction. Additionally, entrepreneurs support maintaining increased IRS funding so that they can properly execute their mission to improve customer service and increased audits of wealthy taxpayers and large corporations.
Looking at the 100 largest metro areas in the United States, ICIC and Small Business Majority developed an interactive map tool that visualizes small business outcomes at the census tract level. Combining numerous public and private data sources, the tool offers users a unique perspective on how revenue and employment size may vary by the racial and economic characteristics of the owner and the neighborhood where the business is located.
This multifaceted study that examines how small businesses adopted new digital technologies during and after the pandemic. While many small businesses have adopted new tools to support their growth, the report also reveals that challenges remain, especially for businesses with less revenue. For this report we surveyed small business owners on several distinct topics, such as general digital literacy and broadband access, online presence, accounting, finance and point-of-sale technology, customer relationship management systems, human resources, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.
As narratives and concerns about national crime persist, it’s important to take the perspectives of America’s entrepreneurs into account. This poll of brick-and-mortar small businesses provides insights into their views on public safety in their communities. The survey reveals that these small business owners are more concerned about economic issues that impact their businesses than crime in their communities.
Opinion Poll: Small businesses support policy solutions to address our nation’s childcare challenges
The lack of childcare funding and access to affordable childcare has put a significant burden on working parents and has impeded the ability of small businesses to retain a skilled workforce. Additionally, for entrepreneurs with children of their own, it’s preventing many from being able to launch or grow successful businesses. Although several states have taken steps to fill gaps in childcare investments, federal action is needed to solve the childcare funding cliff and ensure more individuals can own or work for a small business. Small Business Majority’s new national opinion poll of small business owners reveals they believe that policymakers should take steps to address the cost of childcare, and that they strongly support a variety of legislative solutions.
