Nightingale D S, Holcomb P A
Urban Institute, Washington, DC, USA.
Future Child. 1997 Spring;7(1):52-64.
As states reform their welfare systems to emphasize work and self-sufficiency, they can draw on significant past experience with efforts to promote employment. Work and training programs for welfare recipients and other disadvantaged individuals have been operating in every state for nearly 30 years. This article summarizes findings from key evaluations of strategies to increase the employment and earnings of individuals. The article also reviews lessons about program design and management drawn from studies of program outcomes and implementation. Evaluations of net impact typically measure outcomes for randomly selected individuals who participated in programs, and compare those with outcomes for individuals who did not receive the treatment. Studies of program outcome and implementation analyze the effectiveness of entire programs in real-world operational settings. The evidence from net-impact evaluations shows that programs that encourage, help, or require welfare recipients to find jobs or participate in training or work-related activities can increase employment and earnings and in some cases reduce welfare costs. Even the most successful programs, however, yield only small gains in earnings that do not move most former welfare recipients out of poverty. The article also discusses critical policy and implementation issues that influence the effectiveness of welfare-to-work programs overall. It focuses on strategies for increasing rates of participation in the programs, for improving implementation, and for strengthening links with the local labor market, which ultimately determines the success or failure of any welfare-to-work program.
随着各州改革其福利制度以强调工作和自给自足，它们可以借鉴过去在促进就业方面的大量经验。为福利领取者和其他弱势群体提供的工作和培训项目在每个州已经开展了近30年。本文总结了对提高个人就业和收入策略的关键评估结果。文章还回顾了从项目成果和实施研究中得出的关于项目设计和管理的经验教训。净影响评估通常衡量随机选择的参与项目的个人的成果，并将这些成果与未接受治疗的个人的成果进行比较。项目成果和实施研究分析了整个项目在实际运营环境中的有效性。净影响评估的证据表明，鼓励、帮助或要求福利领取者找工作或参与培训或与工作相关活动的项目可以增加就业和收入，在某些情况下还可以降低福利成本。然而，即使是最成功的项目，在收入方面也只能带来微小的增长，无法使大多数前福利领取者摆脱贫困。文章还讨论了总体上影响从福利到工作项目有效性的关键政策和实施问题。它侧重于提高项目参与率、改善实施以及加强与当地劳动力市场联系的策略，而当地劳动力市场最终决定了任何从福利到工作项目的成败。
