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Reintegrating Older Long-Term Unemployed Workers: The Impact of Temporary Job Guarantees

Author

Listed:
  • Ahammer, Alexander

    (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz)

  • Halla, Martin

    (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Austrian National Public Health Institute (GOEG); Rockwool Foundation Berlin; and Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO))

  • Heckl, Pia

    (ifo Institute. Poschingerstraße 5, Germany; Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and CESifo)

  • Rudolf Winter-Ebmer

    (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS); Rockwool Foundation Berlin, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR))

Abstract

Long-term unemployment among older workers is particularly difficult to overcome. We study the impacts of a large-scale job guarantee program that offered up to two years of fully subsidized employment to long-term unemployed individuals aged 50 and above. Using a sharp age-based discontinuity in eligibility, we find that participation increased regular, unsubsidized employment by 43 percentage points two years after the program ended. The gains are driven by transitions into new firms and industries, rather than continued subsidized employment, and we find no evidence of displacement effects for non-participants or spillovers to family members. The program had no measurable short-run health effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahammer, Alexander & Halla, Martin & Heckl, Pia & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2026. "Reintegrating Older Long-Term Unemployed Workers: The Impact of Temporary Job Guarantees," IHS Working Paper Series 63, Institute for Advanced Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:ihs:ihswps:number63
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    File URL: https://irihs.ihs.ac.at/id/eprint/7366
    File Function: First version, 2026
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health

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