Most studies consider that COVID-19 lockdowns lead to mental health problems for females, while the effect of role change on female mental health has been overlooked. This study aimed to explore multiple facets of the risk of mental distress in a sample of Chinese married females aged 21–50 during the COVID-19 lockdowns. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 613 valid responses from married females in the Guangdong province. Our primary tool was a questionnaire using a Kessler-10 scale to detect the probability of mental distress based on the level of nervousness, tiredness, restlessness, and depression. Eighty-eight point three percent of married females possessed a high risk of psychological distress because they frequently felt tired out, hopeless, and restless. The evidence suggests that the lockdown has caused a conflict in the female role to maintain a balance between family and career. Increasing family care responsibilities are positively associated with nervousness, tiredness, and mental disorder. The heterogeneity of the social role in mental wellbeing is explored. Married females whose income was worse off during the lockdown are negatively associated with mental wellbeing. Married females who are employed are found to be less mentally healthy than the self-employed.

Most studies consider entrepreneurship in Chinese a happier career choice, while the adverse effects of entrepreneurship on wellbeing have been overlooked. In this research, the effect of career choice on job-related wellbeing is explored using multiple indicators. Differences in the career choices of employees and entrepreneurs are examined in the first section of the study, and the motives for entrepreneurship are studied in the second section. Job-related wellbeing is regarded as consisting of job satisfaction, subjective wellbeing, and physical wellbeing. The data were obtained using the Chinese Labor-Force Dynamic Survey, and the sample consisted of 6108 employees and 2075 entrepreneurs from 29 provinces and cities in China. T-test, chi square test, and ordinal logistic regression were conducted. The analysis in the first section reveals significant differences in job-related wellbeing between employees and entrepreneurs along with differences in autonomy and perceived equity. Entrepreneurs are found to be less satisfied and unhappier than employees. The heterogeneity of the motives for entrepreneurship is highlighted in the second part, and its significant role in the wellbeing of entrepreneurs is explored. Subsistence entrepreneurs have been found to constitute up to 64% of all entrepreneurs. Subsistence entrepreneurship is negatively associated with job satisfaction and subjective wellbeing.