A comparative study of governmental financial support and resilience of self-employed people in Sweden and Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Globally, self-employed people were among the hardest hit by the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and faced hardships such as financial decline, restrictions, and business closures. A plethora of financial support measures were rolled out worldwide to support them, but there is a lack of research looking at the effect of the policy measures on self-employed people. To understand how different governmental financial support measures enhanced the resilience of the self-employed and improved their ability to manage the pandemic, we conducted a mixed-method study using policy analysis and semi-structured interviews. The documents described policies addressing governmental financial support in Sweden and Canada during the pandemic, and the interviews were conducted with Swedish and Canadian self-employed people to explore how they experienced the support measures in relation to their resilience. The key results were that self-employed people in both countries who were unable to telework were less resilient during the pandemic due to financial problems, restrictions, and lockdowns. The interviews revealed that many self-employed people in hard-hit industries were dissatisfied with the support measures and found them to be unfairly distributed. In addition, the self-employed people experiencing difficulties running their businesses reported reduced well-being, negatively affecting their business survival.

Socio-Ecological Factors and Well-Being among Self-Employed in Europe during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The self-employed are at increased risk of negative well-being outcomes when facing adversity such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies that examine socio-ecological factors that may protect their well-being are warranted. METHODS: Data were drawn from a cross-sectional survey of European self-employed people (n = 1665). The WHO-5 Well-being Index was used to examine the impact on well-being of factors at four socio-ecological levels. Independent sample t-tests, Pearson correlations and linear regression were applied to analyse differences between groups of self-employed and interactions between variables using SPSS. RESULTS: Well-being and the socio-ecological factors of resilience, social support, useful work and finding the rules clear were positively correlated with well-being. For self-employed who reported that it was challenging to run their business during the pandemic, social support and finding rules clear were of significantly greater importance to their well-being. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight that the socio-ecological factors of resilience, social support, doing useful work and finding the rules clear affect well-being. The results also indicate that it is vital to consider factors at multiple socio-ecological levels to improve the well-being of the self-employed during adversity.

Small business managers and Covid-19-The role of a sense of coherence and general resistance resources in coping with stressors.

BACKGROUND: The response of small business managers to an external event such as the pandemic can have a profound effect on the work environment, health and well-being for themselves and their employees. Previous research on small business managers during the pandemic has mainly focused on traditional pathogenic effects, and there is a lack of studies looking at the issue from a salutogenic health promotion perspective. The aim of this study is to explore whether a sense of coherence and general resistance resources were experienced by small business managers in Sweden and Norway during the Covid-19 pandemic. METHODS: A qualitative design was applied through exploratory interviews with 16 managers of small businesses in Sweden and Norway. A content analysis of the interviews was conducted using the sense of coherence concept by Aaron Antonovsky, with the three main components of comprehensibility, meaningfulness and manageability acting as a conceptual framework for the analysis process. RESULTS: Within the three main sense-of-coherence categories, six general resistance resources were identified as being important for the managers to handle uncertainty during the pandemic. These were understanding rules and regulations, social support, optimism, proactivity, problem-solving and flexibility and cooperation. CONCLUSIONS: The small business managers handled the pandemic in a way that worked well in their contexts, and the pandemic generally did not have a negative effect on their businesses or themselves. A salutogenic approach, through which the managers focused on identifying and using resources, was an important factor for managing stressors and adversity during the pandemic. Hence, the concept of salutogenesis may be used as an intervention to foster better health in small businesses, both at a personal and organisational level in order to handle future challenges effectively.