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

Author

Listed:
  • Ahammer, Alexander

    (Johannes Kepler University Linz)

  • Halla, Martin

    (Vienna University of Economics and Business)

  • Heckl, Pia

    (Ifo Institute for Economic Research)

  • Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf

    (Johannes Kepler University Linz)

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 & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2025. "Reintegrating Older Long-Term Unemployed Workers: The Impact of Temporary Job Guarantees," IZA Discussion Papers 18322, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18322
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    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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