National Supported Work Demonstration

Last registered on February 14, 2017

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
National Supported Work Demonstration
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001975
Initial registration date
February 14, 2017

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
February 14, 2017, 2:56 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Pennsylvania

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
MDRC (formerly Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation)
PI Affiliation
MDRC (formerly Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation)
PI Affiliation
Formerly of Mathematica Policy Research
PI Affiliation
Formerly of Mathematica Policy Research

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
1975-04-01
End date
1979-03-30
Secondary IDs
Abstract
The first large random assignment study of a multisite employment program, Supported Work offered a year of carefully structured, paid work to four groups of hard-to-employ people: former prisoners, former addicts, young school dropouts, and single mothers who were long-term recipients of welfare. The evaluation found that the program significantly increased the post-program employment of welfare recipients and reduced their receipt of cash assistance but did not have consistent impacts for the other three groups.

Registration Citation

Citation
Hollister, Robinson et al. 2017. "National Supported Work Demonstration." AEA RCT Registry. February 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1975-1.0
Former Citation
Hollister, Robinson et al. 2017. "National Supported Work Demonstration." AEA RCT Registry. February 14. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1975/history/14028
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
12 or 18 months of structured, paid work experience
Intervention Start Date
1975-04-01
Intervention End Date
1977-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Employment, hours worked, earnings, wage rates, welfare receipt and payments, income and poverty, drug use, criminal activities, child care
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Random assignment of 6,616 eligible program applicants to participant (3,214) or control (3,402) groups. In-person interviews conducted at time of random assignment and at 9-month intervals thereafter for up to 36 months. Data validated by comparison with Social Security, welfare, and arrest records.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by computer under the control of centrally located personnel from Mathematica Policy Research.
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
n/a
Sample size: planned number of observations
6,616 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
3,214 individuals in participant group, 3,402 individuals in control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
July 31, 1977, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
March 30, 1979, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
6,616 individuals randomly assigned. Analysis sample varied by length of follow-up and survey completion rates.
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
Yes

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
The National Supported Work Demonstration, a program at 15 sites around the country, was designed to test whether and to what extent 12 to 18 months of employment in a supportive but performance-oriented environment would equip hard-to-employ people to get and hold normal, unsubsidized jobs. The program concentrated on women who had been receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) for many years, ex-addicts, ex-offenders, and young school dropouts, often with criminal records or histories of delinquency. The evaluation found that the program proved effective in enhancing the employability and earnings of long-term AFDC recipients, particularly those with the least prior work experience, and in reducing their dependence on welfare payments. It also had an impact on a significant segment of the ex-addict population, who did better in getting jobs, earned more, and were less likely to commit crimes than those who were not in the program. The program had a marginal impact on ex-offenders, and yielded no long-term positive results for the youth group.
Citation
MDRC Board of Directors. 1980. Summary and Findings of the National Supported Work Demonstration. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

Reports & Other Materials