Pandemic Depression: COVID-19 and the Mental Health of the Self-Employed. (May 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Caliendo, Marco; Graeber, Daniel; Kritikos, Alexander S.; Seebauer, Johannes
• Other Names: Batjargal Bat guest-editor.; Jack Sarah guest-editor.; Mickiewicz Tomasz guest-editor.; Stam Erik guest-editor.; Stam Wouter guest-editor.; Wennberg Karl guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Entrepreneurship theory and practice. Volume 47:Number 3(2023)
• Page Start: 788
• Page End: 830
• Publication Date: 2023-05
• Subjects: Self-employment -- COVID-19 -- mental health -- gender -- representative longitudinal survey data -- PHQ-4 score -- resilience; L26 -- D31 -- I14 -- I18 -- J16; Small business -- Periodicals; New business enterprises -- Periodicals; Entrepreneurship -- Periodicals; 658.421
• DOI: 10.1177/10422587221102106
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1042-2587

Abstract

We investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on self-employed people's mental health. Using representative longitudinal survey data from Germany, we reveal differential effects by gender: whereas self-employed women experienced a substantial deterioration in their mental health, self-employed men displayed no significant changes up to early 2021. Financial losses are important in explaining these differences. In addition, we find larger mental health responses among self-employed women who were directly affected by government-imposed restrictions and bore an increased childcare burden due to school and daycare closures. We also find that self-employed individuals who are more resilient coped better with the crisis.