Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Glosser, A., Barden, B., Williams, S., & Anderson, C. (2016). Testing two subsidized employment approaches for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Implementation and early impacts of the Los Angeles County Transitional Subsidized Employment Program. (OPRE Report 2016-77). Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. [Contrast 1: Paid work experience versus comparison]
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the impact of a paid work experience program, part of Los Angeles’ Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration, on employment, earnings, education, training, and public benefit receipt relative to no subsidized job opportunities. The authors also investigated related impacts, the profiles of which are available [here].
- The authors used regression methods in a randomized controlled trial study to examine the impacts of participating in paid work experience. The data sources included administrative wage records, subsidized employment payroll records, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefit payment records, and survey data.
- The study found that the paid work experience program had positive, statistically significant impacts on employment, earnings, and benefit receipt compared with the control condition of no subsidized job opportunities. Paid work experience had no impacts on education and training outcomes.
- The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is high because it was based on a well-implemented randomized controlled trial. This means we are confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the paid work experience program and not to other factors.
Intervention Examined
Los Angeles’ Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration
Features of the Intervention
The Los Angeles Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration implemented two programs providing subsidized employment to TANF recipients to improve their employment, earnings, benefit receipt, and well-being. Los Angeles County worked with 21 Worksource Centers (American Job Centers) to deliver the programs. The centers oversaw employer recruitment, subsidized job placement of participants, and case management during placements. Centers received $1,200 for every subsidized job placement and $400 for every participant who transitioned to an unsubsidized job. The paid work experience program provided people with work experience by placing them in a public or nonprofit sector job for six months. People who participated in the paid work experience program were paid minimum wage, with their wages fully subsidized by the Workforce Investment Board. The on-the-job training program provided people with a work environment aimed at mimicking real world employment. The program provided people with a private sector job for six months. Their wages were fully subsidized for two months by the Workforce Investment Board, paid by employers in full in month three, and then partially subsidized by the Workforce Investment Board by up to $550 a month in months three to six. The goal of the on-the-job program was to have participants continue to work with the employer in positions with unsubsidized wages.
Features of the Study
The authors employed a randomized controlled trial design. From November 2012 to November 2013, 2,622 eligible people receiving TANF benefits in 21 Worksource centers in Los Angeles County were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The three groups were a treatment group of 876 receiving paid work experience, a treatment group of 877 receiving on-the-job training, and a control group of 871 that did not have access to subsidized job opportunities but received other welfare-to-work services. To be eligible, the TANF recipients must (1) not have been able to obtain unsubsidized employment after a four-week job search with the help of TANF staff members and (2) have had barriers to employment such as limited work experience, low levels of education, criminal convictions, or prolonged spells on TANF. Among the people randomly assigned, the average age was 32; 85 percent were female; 55 percent were Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish; 32 percent were non-Hispanic African American; and 39 percent did not finish high school. This study examines the effects of the paid work experience program relative to the control condition.
The authors used a statistical model to estimate the impact of paid work experience on employment, earnings, and benefit outcomes relative to the control condition, accounting for background characteristics of the people involved. The authors do not specify which characteristics were included in their model, but they collected various demographic variables such as age, race and ethnicity, percentage female, employment measures, number of children, educational attainment, whether the person has a disability, length of benefit receipt, and income. The data sources included administrative wage records, subsidized employment payroll records, TANF benefit payment records, and two surveys.
Findings
Employment
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The study found that people who received paid work experience were significantly more likely to be employed in the year after random assignment than those in the control group (by 34 percentage points based on administrative data and 13 percentage points based on self-reports).
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The study found that people who received paid work experience were significantly more likely to be employed in all four quarters of the year after random assignment than those in the control group (by 15 percentage points).
Earnings and wages
- The study found positive, statistically significant impacts of paid work experience on earnings. People who received paid work experience earned, on average, $2700 more during the year after random assignment than those in the control group.
Education or training attainment and completion
- The study found no impacts of paid work experience on earning a high school diploma or on earning a professional license or certification during the year after random assignment.
Public benefit receipt
- The study found positive, statistically significant impacts of paid work experience on TANF receipt. People who received paid work experiences received about $470 less in TANF benefits during the year after random assignment than those in the control group. There were no significant differences between the groups in whether people who received paid work experiences received any TANF benefits or in the duration of receipt.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The study includes analyses on more than 35 employment, earnings, and benefits outcomes, but the authors do not use statistical methods to adjust for the large number of analyses. Performing multiple statistical tests on related outcomes makes it more likely that some impacts will be found statistically significant purely by chance and not because of program’s impacts. It is possible that some of the findings reported in this profile are statistically significant because of chance and not because of the impacts of paid work experience.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is high because it was based on a well-implemented randomized controlled trial. This means we are confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the paid work experience program and not to other factors.