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Leaving welfare and joining the labor force: Does job training help?

by Leighton Walter Kille, The Journalist's Resource
December 18, 2009

<h1>Leaving welfare and joining the labor force: Does job training help?</h1> <p class="byline">by Leighton Walter Kille, The Journalist's Resource <br />December 18, 2009</p> <p>Beginning in 1999, New York City enrolled the majority of its welfare recipients in the Employment Services and Placement (ESP) job training program. Participants spent 14 hours a week in the ESP program, focusing primarily on skills such as resume writing and interviewing.</p> <p>A 2006 University of Santa Clara study, <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1096612">"Leaving Welfare and Joining the Labor Force: Does Job Training Help? Evidence from an Innovative Intervention in New York City,"</a> looked at how program participants fared compared to those who did not participate.</p> <p>The study found that:</p> <ul> <li>Eight months after treatment, those enrolled in the program were twice as likely to be employed.</li> <li>Participation increased the likelihood of beginning a job by 13%.</li> <li>The likelihood of participants permanently exiting welfare increased by at least 8%.</li> <li>The fiscal benefits outweigh the program costs even with only 40% of participants remaining off welfare for more than a year.</li> </ul> <p><em>Tags: training</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://journalistsresource.org/economics/leaving-welfare-does-job-training-help/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://journalistsresource.org&quot;&gt;The Journalist&#039;s Resource&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.&lt;img src=&quot;https://journalistsresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cropped-jr-favicon-150x150.png&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

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Beginning in 1999, New York City enrolled the majority of its welfare recipients in the Employment Services and Placement (ESP) job training program. Participants spent 14 hours a week in the ESP program, focusing primarily on skills such as resume writing and interviewing.

A 2006 University of Santa Clara study, “Leaving Welfare and Joining the Labor Force: Does Job Training Help? Evidence from an Innovative Intervention in New York City,” looked at how program participants fared compared to those who did not participate.

The study found that:

• Eight months after treatment, those enrolled in the program were twice as likely to be employed.
• Participation increased the likelihood of beginning a job by 13%.
• The likelihood of participants permanently exiting welfare increased by at least 8%.
• The fiscal benefits outweigh the program costs even with only 40% of participants remaining off welfare for more than a year.

Tags: training