Working Paper: NBER ID: w30405
Authors: Gustavo J. Bobonis; Aneta Bonikowska; Philip Oreopoulos; W. Craig Riddell; Steven P. Ryan
Abstract: We study the long-run impacts of the Canada Self-Sufficiency Project (SSP) Plus program, which randomly offered intensive employment support services for up to three years to long-term welfare recipients eligible for temporary work subsidies. We examine whether this intervention – aiming to address both economic and psycho-social barriers faced by the poor in finding and retaining desirable employment – led to long-run changes in individuals’ socioeconomic trajectories. We link study participants to their federal tax and employer-employee matched records for up to 20 years after random assignment. The intensive services treatment led to a 20-27 percent increase in participants’ annual earnings over the 20-year period, or approximately 26,000 CAD in present discounted real 2010 terms. As possible mechanisms, individuals experience increases in full-time employment throughout the first decade post-intervention, a greater retention of jobs in higher paying firms, and an improvement in non-cognitive skills.
Keywords: employment support; welfare recipients; long-term effects; Canada Self-Sufficiency Project
JEL Codes: I3; J22
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| increased full-time employment rates (J29) | annual earnings (J31) |
| improved retention in higher-paying jobs (J62) | annual earnings (J31) |
| SSP Plus program (H55) | annual earnings (J31) |
| SSP Plus program (H55) | full-time employment rates (J29) |
| SSP Plus program (H55) | cash welfare receipt (I38) |