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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. Le Projet d’autosuffisance (PAS) fut un programme canadien d’essais aléatoires contrôlés dans lequel on a donné douze mois à un groupe cible pour se trouver un emploi plein temps afin de se qualifier pour une subvention qui grosso mode a doublé leur revenu avant impôts pour les prochains trois ans. On découvre des impacts significatifs de PAS sur les durées d’emploi et de non‐emploi. Pour le groupe ciblé qualifié, les résultats de simulation montrent un impact sur le taux d’emploi à 52 mois (après une assignation aléatoire) de l’ordre de 7 à 11 points de pourcentage; c’est un accroissement d’à peu près 25% dans le taux d’emploi par rapport à ceux qui n’ont pas reçu le traitement.

Suggested Citation

  • 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/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 882-918, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:43:y:2010:i:3:p:882-918
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5982.2010.01599.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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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    3. David Card & Charles Michalopoulos & Philip K. Robins, 2001. "The Limits to Wage Growth: Measuring the Growth Rate of Wages For Recent Welfare Leavers," NBER Working Papers 8444, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. 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. Peter Gottschalk, 2005. "Can work alter welfare recipients' beliefs?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(3), pages 485-498.
    8. Curtis Eberwein & John C. Ham & Robert J. Lalonde, 1997. "The Impact of Being Offered and Receiving Classroom Training on the Employment Histories of Disadvantaged Women: Evidence from Experimental Data," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 655-682.
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    Cited by:

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    3. 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.
    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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