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Impacts of COVID-19 on the self-employed

ABSTRACT: This study estimates random effects and difference-in-difference-in-differences models to examine the initial impacts of COVID-19 on the employment and hours of unincorporated self-employed workers using monthly panel data from the Current Population Survey. For these workers, effects were visible in March as voluntary social distancing began, largest in April as complete shutdowns occurred, and slightly smaller in May as some restrictions were eased. We find differential effects by gender that favor men, by marital status and gender that favor married men over married women, and by gender, marital, and parental status that favor married fathers over married mothers. The evidence suggests that self-employed married mothers were forced out of the labor force to care for children presumably due to prescribed gender norms and the division and specialization of labor within households. Remote work and working in an essential industry mitigated some of the negative effects on employment and hours. Plain English Summary Among the unincorporated self-employed, married mothers were less likely to be employed and worked fewer hours during the COVID-19 pandemic than married fathers. Effects were visible in March as voluntary social distancing began, largest in April as complete shutdowns occurred, and slightly smaller in May as some restrictions were eased. Our results suggest that COVID-19 forced self-employed women back into the home due to gender norms about who cares for children. However, having a plausibly remote job or being in an essential industry helped mitigate some of the negative effects on employment and hours worked. Besides providing evidence that married mothers’ presence among the self-employed has been diminished by COVID-19, we find that the pandemic hurt the unincorporated self-employed more than other types of workers. This finding provides further evidence that it is important for researchers to distinguish between the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed when analyzing variation in self-employment at different points in the business cycle.

SUBMITTER: Kalenkoski C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8361245 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Background Measures to protect against the spread of COVID-19 include guidance on personal and environmental hygiene. Some guidelines related to COVID-19 directly align with or have similarity to evidence-based food safety practices (FSP) taught in nutrition education classes, including handwashing and washing produce before eating. Objective To understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth handwashing and washing produce before eating behaviors. Study Design, Setting, Participants Data were collected from youth (N = 1,098) in grades 3-5 who participated in SNAP-Education (SNAP-Ed) and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) in Florida. Utilizing common self-report survey measures, baseline measures from 3 years prior to the pandemic and 3 months during the pandemic were compared for handwashing before eating and washing produce before eating. Due to incomplete data collection during the first 8 months of the pandemic, only behaviors from October 20-January 31 intervals (October 2018- January 2021) were compared to control for seasonal differences. Measurable Outcomes/Analysis Behavioral measures are based on a frequency scale from 1 to 4 (4 being the most frequent). An independent samples t test was used to compare baseline FSP scores from intervals before and during the pandemic. Results No significant difference was found in the frequency of handwashing before and during COVID-19 (3.16 vs 3.18, respectively; P = 0.76). A significant increase was found in the frequency of washing produce before eating before and during COVID-19 (3.14 vs 3.31, respectively; P = 0.008). Conclusion This study did not find any significant changes in handwashing frequency during COVID-19, however, a significant increase in washing produce prior to eating was found. Handwashing prior to eating is a current CDC guideline for COVID-19 mitigation while washing produce prior to eating is not (CDC 2021). Changes in lifestyle and/or eating arrangements during the pandemic might explain these findings.

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Impacts of COVID-19 on the self-employed

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