Understanding the Gendered Impact of COVID-19 on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Coproducing Interventions That Foster Better Systems and Well-Being: Protocol for a Multimethods Study

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had disproportionate economic and health impacts on self-employed workers in Nigeria, particularly self-employed women and youth. Though uniquely different, the COVID-19 pandemic shares similarities with events such as childbirth, family, a...

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Main Authors: Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah, Aarati Taksal, Joshua Akinyemi, Oluwatomisin Owoade, Funmilola M OlaOlorun, Ade F Adeniyi, Olayinka Egbokhare, Olusade Taiwo, Oluwabukola Adeoye, Rita Tamambang, Adeola Afolayan, Chuka Ononye, Olafunmilayo Adebukola Akinpelu, Srividya N Iyer, Olayinka Omigbodun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2025-05-01
Series:JMIR Research Protocols
Online Access:https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e69577
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author Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah
Aarati Taksal
Joshua Akinyemi
Oluwatomisin Owoade
Funmilola M OlaOlorun
Ade F Adeniyi
Olayinka Egbokhare
Olusade Taiwo
Oluwabukola Adeoye
Rita Tamambang
Adeola Afolayan
Chuka Ononye
Olafunmilayo Adebukola Akinpelu
Srividya N Iyer
Olayinka Omigbodun
author_facet Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah
Aarati Taksal
Joshua Akinyemi
Oluwatomisin Owoade
Funmilola M OlaOlorun
Ade F Adeniyi
Olayinka Egbokhare
Olusade Taiwo
Oluwabukola Adeoye
Rita Tamambang
Adeola Afolayan
Chuka Ononye
Olafunmilayo Adebukola Akinpelu
Srividya N Iyer
Olayinka Omigbodun
author_sort Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had disproportionate economic and health impacts on self-employed workers in Nigeria, particularly self-employed women and youth. Though uniquely different, the COVID-19 pandemic shares similarities with events such as childbirth, family, and health emergencies. Self-employed young women lack adequate support structures to cope with disruptive life events, which have negative consequences for their well-being. This is concerning, as 86% of women in the Nigerian labor force are self-employed. ObjectiveThe project’s first objective is to conduct a gendered situational analysis to address the question of how the COVID-19 pandemic and other life events affect the paid and unpaid work and the physical, mental, and social well-being of self-employed young women in Nigeria; their strategies for coping with such events; and how their experiences compare with those of self-employed young men. Informed by this analysis, the second objective is to coproduce and pilot-test a gender-transformative intervention that integrates social protection and promotes well-being. MethodsThis multimethod project has 3 components. The first is a situational analysis of the impact of the pandemic and other significant life events on the work and well-being of self-employed young women vis-à-vis self-employed young men. This involves qualitative interviews with approximately 60 self-employed young women and men and a digital storytelling initiative to represent some of these stories in video format. Secondary data analysis of the Nigerian General Household Survey and the COVID-19 Longitudinal Phone Survey will be conducted. Furthermore, a scoping review of the impact of significant life events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on self-employed workers in low- and middle-income countries will be conducted. The second component is the coproduction of interventions involving qualitative interviews with self-employed young women, members of their support network, and policy makers to find out their views on how to support self-employed women. It also entails an analysis of policies relevant to self-employed women in Nigeria and theory of change workshops to create a map for achieving the long-term goal of improving their resilience. Furthermore, a systematic review of interventions to improve the job quality and well-being of self-employed workers will be conducted. The third component is a pilot of the coproduced interventions in a quasi-experimental study involving 300 participants to assess feasibility, acceptability, cost, and potential effectiveness. ResultsThis project was funded in October 2022. Data collection for the project commenced in May 2023 and will end in November 2025. Data collection for the situational analysis and coproduction of intervention phases have been completed while the pilot of intervention packages is underway. ConclusionsThis project will advance knowledge of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other significant disruptive life events on the work and well-being of self-employed young Nigerian women and provide coproduced solutions to mitigate their effects. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/69577
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spelling doaj-art-4c7352f8ba3a4f05bd8275fc2aef06262025-08-20T03:05:38ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Research Protocols1929-07482025-05-0114e6957710.2196/69577Understanding the Gendered Impact of COVID-19 on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Coproducing Interventions That Foster Better Systems and Well-Being: Protocol for a Multimethods StudyIyeyinka Kusi-Mensahhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4878-7442Aarati Taksalhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4125-7585Joshua Akinyemihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0675-2110Oluwatomisin Owoadehttps://orcid.org/0009-0006-9542-9855Funmilola M OlaOlorunhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5544-2875Ade F Adeniyihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9083-0539Olayinka Egbokharehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4292-1241Olusade Taiwohttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-0730-3712Oluwabukola Adeoyehttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4529-1377Rita Tamambanghttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6632-9090Adeola Afolayanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5736-9560Chuka Ononyehttps://orcid.org/0009-0002-0606-8631Olafunmilayo Adebukola Akinpeluhttps://orcid.org/0009-0007-4537-1779Srividya N Iyerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5367-9086Olayinka Omigbodunhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3808-8530 BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had disproportionate economic and health impacts on self-employed workers in Nigeria, particularly self-employed women and youth. Though uniquely different, the COVID-19 pandemic shares similarities with events such as childbirth, family, and health emergencies. Self-employed young women lack adequate support structures to cope with disruptive life events, which have negative consequences for their well-being. This is concerning, as 86% of women in the Nigerian labor force are self-employed. ObjectiveThe project’s first objective is to conduct a gendered situational analysis to address the question of how the COVID-19 pandemic and other life events affect the paid and unpaid work and the physical, mental, and social well-being of self-employed young women in Nigeria; their strategies for coping with such events; and how their experiences compare with those of self-employed young men. Informed by this analysis, the second objective is to coproduce and pilot-test a gender-transformative intervention that integrates social protection and promotes well-being. MethodsThis multimethod project has 3 components. The first is a situational analysis of the impact of the pandemic and other significant life events on the work and well-being of self-employed young women vis-à-vis self-employed young men. This involves qualitative interviews with approximately 60 self-employed young women and men and a digital storytelling initiative to represent some of these stories in video format. Secondary data analysis of the Nigerian General Household Survey and the COVID-19 Longitudinal Phone Survey will be conducted. Furthermore, a scoping review of the impact of significant life events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on self-employed workers in low- and middle-income countries will be conducted. The second component is the coproduction of interventions involving qualitative interviews with self-employed young women, members of their support network, and policy makers to find out their views on how to support self-employed women. It also entails an analysis of policies relevant to self-employed women in Nigeria and theory of change workshops to create a map for achieving the long-term goal of improving their resilience. Furthermore, a systematic review of interventions to improve the job quality and well-being of self-employed workers will be conducted. The third component is a pilot of the coproduced interventions in a quasi-experimental study involving 300 participants to assess feasibility, acceptability, cost, and potential effectiveness. ResultsThis project was funded in October 2022. Data collection for the project commenced in May 2023 and will end in November 2025. Data collection for the situational analysis and coproduction of intervention phases have been completed while the pilot of intervention packages is underway. ConclusionsThis project will advance knowledge of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other significant disruptive life events on the work and well-being of self-employed young Nigerian women and provide coproduced solutions to mitigate their effects. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/69577https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e69577
spellingShingle Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah
Aarati Taksal
Joshua Akinyemi
Oluwatomisin Owoade
Funmilola M OlaOlorun
Ade F Adeniyi
Olayinka Egbokhare
Olusade Taiwo
Oluwabukola Adeoye
Rita Tamambang
Adeola Afolayan
Chuka Ononye
Olafunmilayo Adebukola Akinpelu
Srividya N Iyer
Olayinka Omigbodun
Understanding the Gendered Impact of COVID-19 on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Coproducing Interventions That Foster Better Systems and Well-Being: Protocol for a Multimethods Study
JMIR Research Protocols
title Understanding the Gendered Impact of COVID-19 on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Coproducing Interventions That Foster Better Systems and Well-Being: Protocol for a Multimethods Study
title_full Understanding the Gendered Impact of COVID-19 on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Coproducing Interventions That Foster Better Systems and Well-Being: Protocol for a Multimethods Study
title_fullStr Understanding the Gendered Impact of COVID-19 on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Coproducing Interventions That Foster Better Systems and Well-Being: Protocol for a Multimethods Study
title_full_unstemmed Understanding the Gendered Impact of COVID-19 on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Coproducing Interventions That Foster Better Systems and Well-Being: Protocol for a Multimethods Study
title_short Understanding the Gendered Impact of COVID-19 on Young Self-Employed Nigerian Women and Coproducing Interventions That Foster Better Systems and Well-Being: Protocol for a Multimethods Study
title_sort understanding the gendered impact of covid 19 on young self employed nigerian women and coproducing interventions that foster better systems and well being protocol for a multimethods study
url https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e69577
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