A comparative study of governmental financial support and resilience of self-employed people in Sweden and Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic
ABSTRACTGlobally, 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...
| Published in: | International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2024
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2023.2298015 https://doaj.org/article/c6b7739336a14a96955201d900b3eaaa |
| Summary: | ABSTRACTGlobally, 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. |
|---|