Resource Library

Explore the effects on earnings —the changes in participants’ outcomes —over a follow-up period of up to eight years for seven programs included in the Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration.

Explore the COVID-19-era employment, earnings, and UI benefit receipt of 8,800 participants in the Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED).

Explore OPRE research on Earned Income Tax Credits for low-income workers without dependent children.

Employment and wages have been rising over the last several years of the recovery from the Great Recession that ended in 2009. But the recent wage increases are not enough to offset decades of stagnating or even falling wages for many groups of low-wage U.S. workers. A central policy question is how to ensure that economic growth is shared more widely and that people who work are not poor. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one option...

Even in a strong economy, some job seekers struggle to find and keep jobs. These individuals often have limited work experience, few educational credentials and job skills, and other characteristics such as criminal records or primary caretaking responsibilities that make it difficult for them to compete in the labor market. For decades, government entities, private foundations, and nonprofit organizations have developed programs to help disadvantaged job seekers...

STEP Forward was a voluntary program in San Francisco that aimed to connect low-income job seekers to the labor market by using public funds to temporarily subsidize individuals’ wages, known as subsidized employment, with the goal of ultimately increasing permanent unsubsidized employment among this population. The program was operated by the Human Services Agency of San Francisco (HSA) under the umbrella of JOBsNOW!, HSA’s broader subsidized employment initiative...

The Minnesota Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (MSTED) is testing the effectiveness of subsidized employment for individuals enrolled in the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), Minnesota’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, who were unable to find employment after participating in the state’s existing welfare- to-work program. MFIP employment counselors, who work with adults expected to meet the federal work activity requirements...

This report presents findings from a feasibility evaluation of the Bridges to Pathways (Bridges) program. Bridges was a program for young men in Chicago between the ages of 17 and 21 years who were involved with the criminal or juvenile justice system and lacked a high school credential. The program offered intensive mentoring and case management, as well as the opportunity to earn a high school credential, attend social-emotional learning workshops, and participate in a subsidized internship...

Securing employment in a competitive labor market can be difficult for job seekers with limited education or work experience, especially if they are single parents or caring for young children. Some public assistance programs — Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, for example...

Recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) often face barriers such as limited education and work experience, health issues including substance abuse problems, and other obstacles that stand in the way of finding employment. In an effort to help these individuals gain work experience, boost their earnings, and eventually...