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The impact of the Self-Sufficiency Project on the employment behaviour of former welfare recipients

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  • Jeffrey Zabel
  • Saul Schwartz
  • Stephen Donald

Abstract

The Self-Sufficiency Project (SSP) was a Canadian randomized trial in which the program group had 12 months to find full-time employment in order to qualify for a subsidy that roughly doubled their pre-tax earnings for the next three years. We find evidence of significant impacts of SSP on non-employment and employment durations. For the treated group, simulation results show an impact on the employment rate at 52 months after random assignment in the range of 7 to 11 percentage points; this is approximately a 25% increase in the employment rate compared with having no treatment in place.

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  • Jeffrey Zabel & Saul Schwartz & Stephen Donald, 2010. "The impact of the Self-Sufficiency Project on the employment behaviour of former welfare recipients," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 43(3), pages 882-918, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:43:y:2010:i:3:p:882-918
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5982.2010.01599.x
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    1. Meyer, Bruce D, 1996. "What Have We Learned from the Illinois Reemployment Bonus Experiment?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 26-51, January.
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    7. Saul Schwartz & Jeffrey Zabel, 2008. "The Employment Impacts of Active Labour Market Policy: The Case of SSP Plus," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 34(3), pages 321-344, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. James Heckman & Tim Kautz, 2013. "Fostering and Measuring Skills: Interventions That Improve Character and Cognition," Working Papers 2013-019, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    2. Jeffrey Zabel & Saul Schwartz & Stephen Donald, 2013. "An analysis of the impact of the self-sufficiency project on wages," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 231-259, February.
    3. Kautz, Tim & Heckman, James J. & Diris, Ron & ter Weel, Bas & Borghans, Lex, 2014. "Fostering and Measuring Skills: Improving Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills to Promote Lifetime Success," IZA Discussion Papers 8696, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Emilia Soldani, 2021. "Public kindergarten, maternal labor supply, and earnings in the longer run: Too little too late?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 35(2), pages 214-263, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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