IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i6p5141-d1097440.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life Satisfaction among Self-Employed People in Different Welfare Regimes during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Significance of Household Finances and Concerns about Work

Author

Listed:
  • Mikael Nordenmark

    (Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, 831 25 Ostersund, Sweden)

  • Bodil J. Landstad

    (Unit of Research, Education and Development, Ostersund Hospital, 831 83 Ostersund, Sweden
    Faculty of Human Sciences, Mid Sweden University, 831 25 Ostersund, Sweden)

  • Åsa Tjulin

    (Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, 831 25 Ostersund, Sweden)

  • Stig Vinberg

    (Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, 831 25 Ostersund, Sweden)

Abstract

Most studies have shown that self-employed people have higher levels of life satisfaction than employed people due to high levels of job satisfaction, work flexibility, and job control. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many self-employed people experienced economic strain and worried about the situation of their employees and survival of the company. The aim of this study was to examine the level of life satisfaction among self-employed people during the COVID-19 pandemic in different welfare regimes. Analyses were mainly based on Eurofound’s “Living, Working and COVID-19” online survey. Fieldwork took place between April and June 2020 in 27 EU countries. The results showed that there was a significantly lower level of life satisfaction among self-employed people than employed people during the pandemic. This was in contrast to analyses from approximately one year before the pandemic, which showed that life satisfaction was higher among self-employed people. The main reasons for this lower level of life satisfaction among the self-employed during the pandemic were worse household financial situation and more worries about their job. Analyses of life satisfaction among the self-employed in different welfare regimes indicated that self-employed people in the Nordic welfare state regime largely kept their relatively high level of life satisfaction during the pandemic, but this was not the case for self-employed people in other welfare regimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Mikael Nordenmark & Bodil J. Landstad & Åsa Tjulin & Stig Vinberg, 2023. "Life Satisfaction among Self-Employed People in Different Welfare Regimes during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Significance of Household Finances and Concerns about Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-13, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:5141-:d:1097440
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/5141/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/5141/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shir, Nadav & Nikolaev, Boris N. & Wincent, Joakim, 2019. "Entrepreneurship and well-being: The role of psychological autonomy, competence, and relatedness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1-1.
    2. Leon Schjoedt & Kelly G. Shaver, 2007. "Deciding on an Entrepreneurial Career: A Test of the Pull and Push Hypotheses Using the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics Data1," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(5), pages 733-752, September.
    3. Binder, Martin & Blankenberg, Ann-Kathrin, 2021. "Self-employment and subjective well-being," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 411, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    4. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew J, 1998. "What Makes an Entrepreneur?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 26-60, January.
    5. Peter Zwan & Jolanda Hessels & Martijn Burger, 2020. "Happy Free Willies? Investigating the relationship between freelancing and subjective well-being," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 475-491, August.
    6. De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel & Ward, George, 2017. "Happiness at work," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 83604, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Lee, Juyeon & Kim, Myoung-Hee, 2017. "The effect of employment transitions on physical health among the elderly in South Korea: A longitudinal analysis of the Korean Retirement and Income Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 122-130.
    8. Jack Blundell & Stephen Machin, 2020. "Self-employment in the Covid-19 crisis," CEP Covid-19 Analyses cepcovid-19-003, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Arthur L. Dolinsky & Richard K. Caputo, 2003. "Health and Female Self‐Employment," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 233-241, July.
    10. Ingemar Johansson Sevä & Stig Vinberg & Mikael Nordenmark & Mattias Strandh, 2016. "Subjective well-being among the self-employed in Europe: macroeconomy, gender and immigrant status," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 239-253, February.
    11. Miha Dominko & Miroslav Verbič, 2021. "The Effect of Income and Wealth on Subjective Well-Being in the Context of Different Welfare State Regimes," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 181-206, January.
    12. Esping-Andersen, Gosta, 1999. "Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198742005.
    13. Andersson, Pernilla, 2008. "Happiness and health: Well-being among the self-employed," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 213-236, February.
    14. Boris Nikolaev & Nadav Shir & Johan Wiklund, 2020. "Dispositional Positive and Negative Affect and Self-Employment Transitions: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(3), pages 451-474, May.
    15. Panka Bencsik & Tuugi Chuluun, 2021. "Comparative well-being of the self-employed and paid employees in the USA," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 355-384, January.
    16. Jolanda Hessels & Efstratia Arampatzi & Peter van der Zwan & Martijn Burger, 2018. "Life satisfaction and self-employment in different types of occupations," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(11), pages 734-740, June.
    17. Ingemar Johansson Sevä & Stig Vinberg & Mikael Nordenmark & Mattias Strandh, 2016. "Subjective well-being among the self-employed in Europe: macroeconomy, gender and immigrant status," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 239-253, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hamenoo, Emma Seyram, 2024. "Social workers’ perspective on the impact of Covid-19 on clients’ vulnerability in Ghana," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Binder, Martin & Blankenberg, Ann-Kathrin, 2021. "Self-employment and subjective well-being," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 411, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    2. Koch, Michael & Park, Sarah & Zahra, Shaker A., 2021. "Career patterns in self-employment and career success," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).
    3. Ardianti, Retno & Obschonka, Martin & Davidsson, Per, 2022. "Psychological well-being of hybrid entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    4. Litsardopoulos, Nicholas & Saridakis, George & Hand, Chris, 2021. "Does the accumulation of self-employment experience impact life satisfaction?," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    5. Patel, Pankaj C. & Tsionas, Mike G. & Oghazi, Pejvak, 2023. "Compensating income variation in health and subjective well-being for the self-employed," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    6. Panka Bencsik & Tuugi Chuluun, 2021. "Comparative well-being of the self-employed and paid employees in the USA," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 355-384, January.
    7. Inessa Love & Boris Nikolaev & Chandra Dhakal, 2024. "The well-being of women entrepreneurs: the role of gender inequality and gender roles," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 325-352, January.
    8. Xiaoyu Yu & Xiaotong Meng & Laura Stanley & Franz W. Kellermanns, 2024. "Self-employment and life satisfaction: The contingent role of formal institutions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 135-163, June.
    9. Nikolova, Milena, 2018. "Self-Employment Can Be Good for Your Health," GLO Discussion Paper Series 226, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    10. Yuji Honjo & Kenta Ikeuchi & Hiroki Nakamura, 2022. "The Mediating Effect of Financial Motives in the Association between Entrepreneurial Experience and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Japan," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 1043-1067, April.
    11. Rafael Ravina-Ripoll & María-José Foncubierta-Rodríguez & Eduardo Ahumada-Tello & Luis Bayardo Tobar-Pesantez, 2021. "Does Entrepreneurship Make You Happier? A Comparative Analysis between Entrepreneurs and Wage Earners," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    12. Fritsch, Michael & Sorgner, Alina & Wyrwich, Michael, 2019. "Self-employment and well-being across institutional contexts," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(6).
    13. Susanna Toivanen & Rosane Härter Griep & Christin Mellner & Mikael Nordenmark & Stig Vinberg & Sandra Eloranta, 2019. "Hospitalization due to stroke and myocardial infarction in self-employed individuals and small business owners compared with paid employees in Sweden—a 5-year study," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 343-354, August.
    14. Martin Binder, 2017. "Entrepreneurial Success and Subjective Well-Being: Worries about the Business Explain One's Well-Being Loss from Self-Employment," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 947, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    15. Odermatt, Reto & Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Stutzer, Alois, 2021. "Are newly self-employed overly optimistic about their future well-being?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    16. Nuria Ceular-Villamandos & Virginia Navajas-Romero & Lorena Caridad y López del Río & Lucia Zita Zambrano-Santos, 2021. "Workplace Situation and Well-Being of Ecuadorian Self-Employed," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-26, February.
    17. Reto Odermatt & Nattavudh Powdthavee & Alois Stutzer, 2017. "Overoptimistic Entrepreneurs: Predicting Wellbeing Consequences of Self-Employment," PIER Discussion Papers 71, Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research.
    18. Filip Fors Connolly & Ingemar Johansson Sevä & Tommy Gärling, 2021. "The Bigger the Better? Business Size and Small-Business Owners’ Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1071-1088, March.
    19. Martin Binder & Alex Coad, 2013. "Life satisfaction and self-employment: a matching approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1009-1033, May.
    20. Nicholas Litsardopoulos & George Saridakis & Yannis Georgellis & Chris Hand, 2023. "Self-employment experience effects on well-being: A longitudinal study," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(2), pages 454-480, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:5141-:d:1097440. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.