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Do Temporary-Help Jobs Improve Labor Market Outcomes for Low-Skilled Workers? Evidence from "Work First"

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Abstract

Temporary-help jobs offer rapid entry into paid employment, but they are typically brief and it is unknown whether they foster longer-term employment. We utilize the unique structure of Detroit's welfare-to-work program to identify the effect of temporary-help jobs on labor market advancement. Exploiting the rotational assignment of welfare clients to numerous nonprofit contractors with differing job placement rates, we find that temporary-help job placements do not improve and may diminish subsequent earnings and employment outcomes among participants. In contrast, job placements with direct-hire employers substantially raise earnings and employment over a seven quarter follow-up period.
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  • David H. Autor & Susan N. Houseman, "undated". "Do Temporary-Help Jobs Improve Labor Market Outcomes for Low-Skilled Workers? Evidence from "Work First"," Upjohn Working Papers dhasnh2010, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:dhasnh2010
    Note: Appears in American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2(3): 96-128
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    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.3.96
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    temp workers; contingent work; part-time work; low-skilled workers; labor supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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