Factors Associated with Unemployment in South Africa 2003-2007

Unemployment has significant economic and social costs for individuals and households, as well as for the larger society. Unemployment and the inability to earn a regular income is closely related to why people end up in poverty and why they are unable to move out of poverty, especially in developing countries, which fail to provide a social safety net. The South African government introduced the Expanded Public Works Programme in order to have an effect on the rising rates of unemployment. The employment policy measures taken by the government, i.e. the ruling party ANC, could roughly be divided into indirect and direct ones. The indirect part concerns the macro-level, and they are mainly the promotion of economic growth and overall macroeconomic stability. The direct part concerns the micro-level and deals mainly with short-term job creation and skills training of unemployed individuals within the EPWP.