Interventions for including welfare recipients in the workforce
Mapping review
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Key message
Background
Work programs are used for trying to include welfare recipients in the work force. We have examined international effect studies to find out which interventions have a documented effect on getting people employed, increase their income and reduce the welfare payments. Our knowledge base is one systematic review, two meta-analyses, one European review, and three Norwegian primary studies.
Main findings
This systematic literature review concludes that more people in the intervention groups became employed than in the control groups in the American effect studies. The effect on income was positive, but small. The work programs led to reduced welfare payments and less people receiving welfare.
The meta-analyses show that time-limited support had a positive effect on employment, but not on income. The effect declined after one to three years but had a duration of four to seven years. Skill-oriented interventions were less effective than job-seeking interventions for getting people employed. The effect of job-seeking interventions was greatest for long-term welfare recipients. The interventions were most effective for those without previous work experience. The effect of mandatory programs was greater when the labor market was tight.
These results build on studies that were conducted in the USA, and the transferability to Norway is probably limited.
It is difficult to summarize the knowledge from the European review because the studies were conducted within diverse social systems and with different study designs. Moreover, there were great differences regarding participants. The participants in the studies were not randomly allocated to receiving the intervention or not, making it difficult to determine the real effect.
The Norwegian studies indicate that training /qualification programs lead to better results than direct placement. No significant results on income and employment are reported.
There are many methodological sound, but less relevant American studies, and many relevant, but methodologically weak European and Norwegian studies. This does not give us dependable knowledge about the effect of welfare to work. It is therefore a need for Norwegian effect studies.