EPWP Research Study
23 July 2026
J-PAL Africa at the University of Cape Town is conducting a survey of jobseekers registered for the City of Cape Town's Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)
About
The City has run the EPWP since 2004. The programme provides 40,000 short- and medium-term work opportunities to unemployed jobseekers across the city each year.
To better understand the impacts of the EPWP, the City has partnered with researchers from J-PAL Africa at UCT. The researchers are conducting surveys with up to 20,000 individuals who have been registered on the EPWP database since 2014 – both those who received EPWP work and those who registered but did not receive work.
The study will:
- help us understand the long-term effects of the EPWP on beneficiaries’ employment, income, and wellbeing; and
- directly inform how the City designs, targets, and evaluates public employment programmes going forward.
Who is being contacted?
Individuals registered in the City's EPWP beneficiary database from 2014 onwards are eligible. Trained field officers will contact individuals by telephone and each participant will be offered at least a R40 airtime voucher as compensation for their time.
What information is being collected?
Participants will take part in a telephone interview of approximately 30 minutes.
We ask questions related to:
- Current and past employment, earnings, and job search
- Household circumstances and expenditure
- Health and general wellbeing
Please note
All personal information is treated as strictly confidential and used only for research purposes. Participation is entirely voluntary, and participants may withdraw at any time. The study is POPIA compliant and has been reviewed and approved by UCT's ethics committee.
Contact us
If you have received a call about this study and would like to verify its legitimacy, or if you have any questions or concerns, contact:
Talia Bernhardt, Research Associate at J-PAL Africa
Telephone:
071 594 6454