abstract: 'BackgroundToday''s labor market has changed over time, shifting from

  mostly full-time, secured, and standard employment relationships to

  mostly entrepreneurial and precarious working arrangements. Thus,

  self-employment (SE) has been growing rapidly in recent decades due to

  globalization, automation, technological advances, and the recent rise

  of the `gig'' economy, among other factors. Accordingly, more than 60\%

  of workers worldwide are non-standard and precarious. This precarity

  profoundly impacts workers'' health and well-being, undermining the

  comprehensiveness of social security systems. This study aims to examine

  the experiences of self-employed (SE''d) workers on how they are

  protected with available social security systems following illness,

  injury, and income reduction or loss.MethodsDrawing on in-depth

  interviews with 24 solo SE''d people in Ontario (January - July 2021),

  thematic analysis was conducted based on participants'' narratives of

  experiences with available security systems following illness or injury.

  The dataset was analyzed using NVIVO qualitative software to elicit

  narratives and themes.FindingsThree major themes emerged through the

  narrative analysis: (i) policy-practice (mis)matching, (ii) compromise

  for a decent life, and (iii) equity in work and

  benefits.ConclusionsMeagre government-provided formal supports may

  adversely impact the health and wellbeing of self-employed workers. This

  study points to ways that statutory social protection programs should be

  decoupled from benefits provided by employers. Instead, government can

  introduce a comprehensive program that may compensate or protect

  low-income individuals irrespective of employment status.'
affiliation: 'Khan, TH (Corresponding Author), Univ Waterloo, Sch Publ Hlth Sci, Waterloo,
  ON, Canada.

  Khan, TH (Corresponding Author), Jagannath Univ, Dept Sociol, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

  Khan, Tauhid Hossain; MacEachen, Ellen; Neiterman, Elena, Univ Waterloo, Sch Publ
  Hlth Sci, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

  Khan, Tauhid Hossain, Jagannath Univ, Dept Sociol, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

  Premji, Stephanie, McMaster Univ, Sch Labour Studies, Dept Hlth Aging \& Soc, Hamilton,
  ON, Canada.'
article-number: '643'
author: Khan, Tauhid Hossain and MacEachen, Ellen and Premji, Stephanie and Neiterman,
  Elena
author-email: th3khan@uwaterloo.ca
author_list:
- family: Khan
  given: Tauhid Hossain
- family: MacEachen
  given: Ellen
- family: Premji
  given: Stephanie
- family: Neiterman
  given: Elena
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15471-8
eissn: 1471-2458
files: []
journal: BMC PUBLIC HEALTH
keywords: 'Self-employment; Health; Illness; Injury; Social security; Social

  support; Social protection; Covid-19; CERB'
keywords-plus: 'HEALTH; ENTREPRENEURS; PROTECTION; PRECARIOUSNESS; INSURANCE; RESPONSES;

  BARRIERS; FUTURE'
language: English
month: APR 4
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '73'
orcid-numbers: Khan, Tauhid/0000-0002-7502-7377
papis_id: c2a43e9b25f55d9afd3f9f834a20af79
ref: Khan2023selfemploymentillnes
researcherid-numbers: Khan, Tauhid/AAI-3033-2021
times-cited: '0'
title: 'Self-employment, illness, and the social security system: a qualitative study
  of the experiences of solo self-employed workers in Ontario, Canada'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000963089700008
usage-count-last-180-days: '2'
usage-count-since-2013: '2'
volume: '23'
web-of-science-categories: Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health
year: '2023'