|
View the full project profile
Project Description
Jobs First uses time limits, work incentives designed to "make work pay", and mandatory employment services. The program is mandatory for non-exempt welfare recipients.
Child Outcomes Survey: Enhanced survey developed to obtain information about Jobs First's impacts on children. Target measures include child care, education, health and safety, and social and emotional adjustment.
Project duration: Jan 1996 - Feb 2002
Sites studied include Manchester, Connecticut
New Haven Connecticut
Sample Characteristics and Sites Studied
6,090 welfare applicants and recipients.
Recent Findings in Brief
02/01/02:
Connecticut's Jobs First Evaluation: Final Report on Connecticut's Welfare Reform Initiative
Final Impact Findings:
Just over half the Jobs First group reached the time limit during the
study period. About two-thirds of those recipients received an extension
of their benefits, generally because they had very low income and were
deemed to have made a good-faith effort to find work.
On average, over the four-year study period, Jobs First increased employment,
earnings, and income and did not affect cash assistance receipt.
Jobs First made progress toward its key goal of replacing welfare with
work. By the end of the four-year period, Jobs First group members were
more likely to be working and less likely to be receiving welfare than
their AFDC group counterparts.
The program’s impacts on employment and earnings were concentrated
among individuals facing greater barriers to employment.
Like most programs studied, Jobs First had no consistent effect on a wide
range of indicators of material well-being. Levels of hardship remained
high for families in both groups.
Jobs First had a few positive effects on the behavior of elementary school
children, concentrated among 5- to 8-year-olds, and had mixed effects for
adolescents.
Over five years, the government’s investment in Jobs First was not offset
by decreased welfare payments. The investment generated substantial
gains in income and services for Jobs First participants.
Contact
Dan Bloom (dan_bloom@mdrc.org)
MDRC
16 East 34th Street
19th Floor
(T) (212)-532-3200
(F) (212)-684-0832
|
