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Purpose Contrary to the gender gap in favour of men in entrepreneurial activity elsewhere, in Ghana more women own businesses. This paper aims to examine the correlates between women’s business ownership and household welfare in Ghana and the socio-economic factors that affect business size. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a nationally representative survey data and ordinary least squares and IV regression methods. Findings The findings reveal that more businesses are owned by women and their business ownership is associated with improved welfare for the household, yet still there exists size gap in favour of men. The implication is that potentials exist for poverty reduction and economic growth if policy invests in the size of women businesses. Also, while unpaid work limits entrepreneurial activity for women, older children help to reduce the time constraint. Originality/value The study uses individual-level business ownership data on a developing country (Ghana) to examine the link between women entrepreneurship and household welfare. This is new in the literature, when individual level data is readily not available in developing countries.