The Power and Struggle of Women in the Workplace

- Women own 48% of all businesses in the United States. That's approximately 9.1 million businesses.

- Women business owners contribute more than $3.6 trillion to the marketplace each year.

- Women account for more than 70% of consumer spending.

- Women influence almost 85% of the purchasing decisions in this country.

- 55% of women provide half or more of their household's income.

Staggering statistics wouldn't you agree? As you may recall, I wrote a blog about a month ago about a woman named Nell Merlino. I spoke at a luncheon here in New York City for WCBS radio about women in the workforce. Nell appeared on the panel with me. I had never met her before, yet I had heard so much about her. She created "Take Your Daughter's to Work Day" among other things. Nell is the co-founder and CEO of Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence and the Make Mine a Million Dollar Business. She inspired me so much that I begged her to come on the show. Nell's organization, founded in 1999, helps women develop small businesses, create economic independence through funding, mentoring and other programs. Her organization teaches women how to address the many challenges associated with starting and running a small business.

This morning she joined me on Money for Breakfast to discuss women's economic independence and why the gap between women's compensation and men's compensation is so high. For every dollar a man earns, a woman earns 77 cents. Eighty percent of all women in the workforce earn less than $25,000 dollars a year and yet look at those stastics at the top of the page. Why such a big discrepancy? What is Nell doing about it? Take a look.