IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp18342.html

Supported Work Leads to Lasting Labor Market Success Among TANF Recipients

Author

Listed:
  • Barham, Tania

    (University of Colorado, Boulder)

  • Cadena, Brian C.

    (University of Colorado, Boulder)

  • Schechter, Lauren

    (University of Notre Dame)

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of a supported work program that provides TANF recipients with a suite of services including a six-month subsidized internship with a local employer. We use rich administrative data and implement a stacked difference-in-differences design comparing program participants to observably similar TANF recipients to estimate effects on employment, earnings, and benefit receipt. Program enrollment led to an immediate increase in formal-sector employment and earnings, with limited post-program fadeout. The program increased employment by 10 percentage points (20 percent) and earnings by \$861 per quarter (48 percent) in the three years following program exit. Program participation also increased participants' total benefit receipt during the program, with modest decreases after program exit. The program is relatively cost-effective compared to other adult subsidized employment programs due to longer-than-average persistence of the employment and earnings gains.

Suggested Citation

  • Barham, Tania & Cadena, Brian C. & Schechter, Lauren, 2025. "Supported Work Leads to Lasting Labor Market Success Among TANF Recipients," IZA Discussion Papers 18342, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18342
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp18342.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anna Aizer & Hilary W. Hoynes & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2022. "Children and the US Social Safety Net: Balancing Disincentives for Adults and Benefits for Children," NBER Working Papers 29754, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Gustavo J. Bobonis & Aneta Bonikowska & Philip Oreopoulos & W. Craig Riddell & Steven P. Ryan, 2022. "A Helping Hand Goes a Long Way: Long-Term Effects of Counselling and Support to Workfare Program Participants," NBER Working Papers 30405, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Greenberg, David H. & Deitch, Victoria & Hamilton, Gayle, 2010. "A Synthesis of Random Assignment Benefit-Cost Studies of Welfare-to-Work Programs," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 1-30, July.
    4. Anna Aizer & Hilary Hoynes & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2022. "Children and the US Social Safety Net: Balancing Disincentives for Adults and Benefits for Children," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 149-174, Spring.
    5. David H. Autor & Susan N. Houseman, 2010. "Do Temporary-Help Jobs Improve Labor Market Outcomes for Low-Skilled Workers? Evidence from "Work First"," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 96-128, July.
    6. Lawrence F. Katz & Jonathan Roth & Richard Hendra & Kelsey Schaberg, 2022. "Why Do Sectoral Employment Programs Work? Lessons from WorkAdvance," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(S1), pages 249-291.
    7. Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2008. "Changes in the Consumption, Income, and Well-Being of Single Mother Headed Families," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 2221-2241, December.
    8. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1991. "Are Workers Permanently Scarred by Job Displacements?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(1), pages 319-324, March.
    9. Jeehoon Han & Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2021. "The Consumption, Income, and Well-Being of Single mother–headed Families 25 Years After Welfare Reform," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(3), pages 791-824.
    10. Marianne Bitler & Hilary Hoynes, 2016. "The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same? The Safety Net and Poverty in the Great Recession," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 403-444.
    11. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    12. Kleven, Henrik, 2024. "The EITC and the extensive margin: A reappraisal," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    13. Colin Gray & Adam Leive & Elena Prager & Kelsey Pukelis & Mary Zaki, 2023. "Employed in a SNAP? The Impact of Work Requirements on Program Participation and Labor Supply," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 306-341, February.
    14. Michel Grosz, 2020. "The Returns to a Large Community College Program: Evidence from Admissions Lotteries," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 226-253, February.
    15. Greenberg David H & Deitch Victoria & Hamilton Gayle, 2010. "A Synthesis of Random Assignment Benefit-Cost Studies of Welfare-to-Work Programs," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 1-30, July.
    16. Nathaniel Hendren & Ben Sprung-Keyser, 2020. "A Unified Welfare Analysis of Government Policies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(3), pages 1209-1318.
    17. Michael Pries & Richard Rogerson, 2005. "Hiring Policies, Labor Market Institutions, and Labor Market Flows," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(4), pages 811-839, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leduc, Elisabeth & Tojerow, Ilan, 2025. "Closing the Mismatch: Encouraging Jobseekers to Reskill for Shortage Occupations," IZA Discussion Papers 17731, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Dean Jolliffe & Juan Margitic & Martin Ravallion & Laura Tiehen, 2024. "Food stamps and America's poorest," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(4), pages 1380-1409, August.
    3. Nicardo S. McInnis & Katherine Michelmore & Natasha Pilkauskas, 2023. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty and Public Assistance: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit," NBER Working Papers 31429, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Katja Maria Kaufmann & Yasemin Özdemir & Han Ye, 2022. "Spillover Effects of Old-Age Pension across Generations: Family Labor Supply and Child Outcomes," CESifo Working Paper Series 9813, CESifo.
    5. Diego Daruich & Sabrina Di Addario & Raffaele Saggio, 2023. "The Effects of Partial Employment Protection Reforms: Evidence from Italy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(6), pages 2880-2942.
    6. Lipowski, Cäcilia & Salomons, Anna & Zierahn-Weilage, Ulrich, 2024. "Expertise at work: New technologies, new skills, and worker impacts," ZEW Discussion Papers 24-044, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Dodini, Samuel & Larrimore, Jeff & Tranfaglia, Anna, 2024. "Financial repercussions of SNAP work requirements," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    8. Sherry Glied, 2022. "Presidential Address: Connecting the Dots: Turning Research Evidence into Evidence for Policymaking," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(3), pages 676-682, June.
    9. Louis Kaplow, 2022. "Optimal Income Taxation," NBER Working Papers 30199, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Anders Humlum & Jakob R. Munch & Pernille Plato, 2025. "Changing Tracks: Human Capital Investment after Loss of Ability," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(5), pages 1520-1554, May.
    11. Martha J Bailey & Hilary Hoynes & Maya Rossin-Slater & Reed Walker, 2024. "Is the Social Safety Net a Long-Term Investment? Large-Scale Evidence From the Food Stamps Program," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(3), pages 1291-1330.
    12. Manasi Deshpande & Rebecca Dizon-Ross, 2023. "The (Lack of) Anticipatory Effects of the Social Safety Net on Human Capital Investment," NBER Working Papers 31512, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Jan Gromadzki, 2024. "Universal Child Benefit And Child Poverty: The Role Of Fertility Adjustments," IBS Working Papers 03/2024, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    14. Naomi Gershoni & Rania Gihleb & Assaf Kott & Hani Mansour & Yannay Shanan, 2025. "Adjustments to Reduced Cash Transfers: Religious Safety Nets and Children's Long-Term Outcomes," CESifo Working Paper Series 11856, CESifo.
    15. Jepsen, Christopher & Mueser, Peter & Troske, Kenneth & Jeon, Kyung-Seong, 2025. "Estimates of earnings returns by field of study for-profit schools and community colleges," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    16. Montpetit, Sébastien & Beaureard, Pierre-Loup & Carrer, Luisa, 2024. "A welfare analysis of universal childcare: Lessons from a Canadian reform," CLEF Working Paper Series 73, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    17. Courard-Hauri David & Lauer Stephen A., 2012. "Taking "All Men Are Created Equal" Seriously: Toward a Metric for the Intergroup Comparison of Utility Functions Through Life Values," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 1-30, August.
    18. Dahl, Gordon & Loken, Katrine V., 2024. "Families, public policies, and the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics,, Elsevier.
    19. Hema Shah & Lisa A. Gennetian, 2024. "Unconditional cash transfers for families with children in the U.S.: a scoping review," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 415-450, June.
    20. Anna Aizer & Adriana Lleras‐Muney, 2025. "The safety net and child health and well‐being: evidence from the United States and the United Kingdom," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(1), pages 37-63, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18342. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.