Self-employment means that a person is employed independently or through state support, as defined in Article 1.1.15 of the Employment Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
A special place is devoted to self-employment in the field of social policy in order to improve social welfare of vulnerable families. According to the Decree number 1941 of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Additional Measures to Ensure the Self-Employment of the Population" dated April 7, 2016 a self- employment program is implemented. Within the framework of this program, low-income families are provided with the support of the state for the purpose of establishing or developing the individual households by providing families directly with cattle, material and other property (not cash). The family is provided with production or service equipment in accordance with the business plan provided. This is a distinctive feature of the self-employment program from the experience of other countries.
The self-employment program also has significant advantages over alternative social protection measures. Thus, the program allows to achieve parallel results at the same time for several macro purposes. In general, the advantages of the self-employment program can be grouped as follows:
1. Formation of family budget through sustainable income sources;
2. Micro and small entrepreneurship development;
3. Creating new jobs and reducing unemployment;
4. Increase efficiency in spending public funds (state funds);
5. Reduction of poverty;
6. Strengthening inclusiveness in the economy.