A Helping Hand Goes a Long Way: Long-Term Effects of Counselling and Support to Workfare Program Participants / Gustavo J. Bobonis, Aneta Bonikowska, Philip Oreopoulos, W. Craig Riddell, Steven P. Ryan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bobonis, Gustavo J.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Bonikowska, Aneta.

Oreopoulos, Philip.

Riddell, W. Craig.

Ryan, Steven P.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30405.

NBER working paper series no. w30405

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

We study the long-run impacts of the Canada Self-Sufficiency Project (SSP) Plus program, which randomly offered intensive employment support services for up to three years to long-term welfare recipients eligible for temporary work subsidies. We examine whether this intervention - aiming to address both economic and psycho-social barriers faced by the poor in finding and retaining desirable employment - led to long-run changes in individuals' socioeconomic trajectories. We link study participants to their federal tax and employer-employee matched records for up to 20 years after random assignment. The intensive services treatment led to a 20-27 percent increase in participants' annual earnings over the 20-year period, or approximately 26,000 CAD in present discounted real 2010 terms. As possible mechanisms, individuals experience increases in full-time employment throughout the first decade post-intervention, a greater retention of jobs in higher paying firms, and an improvement in non-cognitive skills.

Notes:

Print version record

August 2022.