Human well-being and in-work benefits: a randomized controlled trial
Many politicians believe they can intervene in the economy to improve people’s lives. But can they? In a social experiment carried out in the United Kingdom, extensive in-work support was randomly assigned among 16,000 disadvantaged people. We follow a sub-sample of 3,500 single parents for 5 ensuing years. The results reveal a remarkable, and troubling, finding. Long after eligibility had ceased, the treated individuals had substantially lower psychological well-being, worried more about money, and were increasingly prone to debt. Thus helping people apparently hurt them. We discuss a behavioral framework consistent with our findings and reflect on implications for policy.
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| Date of creation: | Feb 2014 |
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| Handle: | RePEc:nsr:niesrd:11791 |
| Contact details of provider: | Postal: Web page: http://niesr.ac.uk
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