Evidence Snapshot: Subsidized Employment and Transitional Jobs

This evidence snapshot describes the effectiveness of programs that were identified by the Pathways Clearinghouse as using subsidized employment or transitional jobs as their primary service. It summarizes what we know about these programs and their impacts so program administrators, policymakers, researchers, and the general public can apply the evidence to their context and the questions that matter to them.

On average, subsidized employment and transitional jobs interventions improved several outcomes. In particular, for intervention participants -- as compared with comparison groups that did not receive intervention services --  

• Short-term annual earnings increased by $1,123 and long-term annual earnings increased by $600, on average, across the 16 subsidized employment and transitional jobs interventions for which these outcomes were measured.
• Short-term employment increased by 6 percentage points and long-term employment increased by 3 percentage points, on average, across the 17 subsidized employment and transitional jobs interventions for which these outcomes were measured.
• The proportion of individuals receiving public benefits did not change in the short term and decreased by 2 percentage points in the long term, on average, across the 13 subsidized employment and transitional jobs interventions for which these outcomes were measured. The amount of public benefits received decreased by $299 in the short term and decreased by $237 in the long term, on average, across the four interventions for which public benefit amount was measured.
• Education and training attainment increased by four percentage points, on average, across the nine subsidized employment and transitional jobs interventions for which these outcomes were measured.
• Ten subsidized or transitional employment interventions had positive impacts on two or more outcomes examined by the Pathways Clearinghouse.

The Pathways Clearinghouse assigned an effectiveness rating to each intervention in each of four outcome domains: earnings, employment, public benefit receipt, and education and training. The rating describes whether the intervention is likely to produce favorable results in that domain if faithfully replicated with a similar population.

For this snapshot, the Pathways Clearinghouse calculated the average impact for each domain by averaging impacts within moderate- and high-quality studies, then within interventions (because there may be multiple studies on a single intervention), and then across subsidized employment and transitional jobs interventions. The average includes all studies, not just those with a supported rating or statistically significant findings, because these studies still provide useful evidence in considering the overall effectiveness of subsidized employment and transitional jobs interventions.

This snapshot describes the interventions using subsidized employment or transitional jobs that had positive impacts on earnings, employment, public benefit receipt, and/or education and training, and highlights interventions that were effective in multiple outcome domains.

Elkin, Sam, Jillian Stein, and Dana Rotz (2022). Evidence snapshot: Subsidized employment and transitional jobs, OPRE Report #2022-83, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.