Addressing the Employment and Training Needs of Low-Income Populations

The Right Tool for the Job: Meta-Regression of Employment Strategies' Effects on Different Outcomes. What does meta-regression analysis say about effective strategies for serving low-income adults? This report describes the Employment Strategies for Low-Income Adults Evidence Review (ESER), a systematic literature review of the impacts of employment and training programs and policies. ESER provides the public with a transparent, systematic assessment of the quality of research evidence supporting approaches to improve the employment-related outcomes of low-income adults. This brief suggests that a combination of employment and training strategies can have positive and significant impacts on outcomes for low-income individuals. These combinations do not fully explain the effectiveness of the interventions. However, four strategies—incentives and sanctions, work experiences, education, and training are associated with better outcomes than other outcome types.

Summary of Innovative Programs Serving People with Low Incomes. Identifying, utilizing, and assessing new approaches to effectively serving disadvantaged individuals is a priority for the public workforce development system. This report expands the knowledge base of innovative approaches to support employment in states and localities by providing descriptive case studies of programs that help disadvantaged populations—such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients—prepare for, engage in work, and increase their overall stability. The programs support the employment of people with low income through one of four main approaches: (1) providing wraparound supports, (2) offering full-family transitional housing and supports, (3) delivering employment-based interventions, and (4) convening collaborative community initiatives.

What Works to Improve Employment and Earnings for People with Low Incomes. Since 2018, the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse has conducted a systematic review of research on interventions designed to improve employment and training outcomes for individuals with low incomes. This synthesis report utilizes a meta-analysis of the findings catalogued of the clearinghouse.  Key takeaways from the analysis indicate that on average, the interventions assessed by the clearinghouse improved outcomes, and the largest effects were found among those interventions that focused on education and training, work or work-based learning, and employment services, among others.

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• Posted by: India Johnson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies