South Africa’s official unemployment rate of 25% ― and when including the discouraged, 33%1 ― is the highest amongst 62 countries surveyed in 2011. The poor, who are mostly unemployed and face very low labour force participation rates (37.5% in 2008)2rely on the social grant system as their main source of income. Leibbrandt et al (2010) established that in 2008 for the bottom decile, 73% of income is through social transfers and only 18.8% of income is generated through participation in the labour market.The burden of unemployment is also highest amongst the bottom income deciles, such that the unemployment rate for the poorest 10% of the population in 2008 stood at nearly 70% as compared with an unemployment rate of only 4.5% for the richest 10% of the population.

Full document: Activities Undertaken by the Poor in SA-Briefing Note-Januray 2013