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How to stimulate single mothers on welfare to find a job: evidence from a policy experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Marike Knoef

    (Leiden University)

  • Jan C. van Ours

    (Tilburg University
    University of Melbourne
    CEPR
    CESifo)

Abstract

We present the results from a policy experiment in which single mothers on welfare were stimulated to enter the labor market and increase their work experience. The aim of the policy was not per se for single mothers to leave welfare completely but to encourage them to find a job if only a part-time job. Two policy instruments were introduced: an earnings disregard and job creation. The experiment was performed at the municipality level in the Netherlands, a country with relatively high benefits and low incentives for single mothers to leave welfare for work. In our analysis, we make a distinction between native and immigrant welfare recipients. For immigrant single mothers, we find a positive employment effect of an earnings disregard. Job creation in addition to the earnings disregard increased working hours for some groups of single mothers. Although the outflow from welfare was not affected, welfare expenditures were reduced.

Suggested Citation

  • Marike Knoef & Jan C. van Ours, 2016. "How to stimulate single mothers on welfare to find a job: evidence from a policy experiment," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 1025-1061, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:29:y:2016:i:4:d:10.1007_s00148-016-0593-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-016-0593-0
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    2. Paul Redmond & Seamus McGuinness & Claire Keane, 2023. "The impact of one-parent family payment reforms on the labour market outcomes of lone parents," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(2), pages 346-370.
    3. Løken, Katrine V. & Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Holm Reiso, Katrine, 2018. "Single mothers and their children: Evaluating a work-encouraging welfare reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 1-20.
    4. Bergolo, M. & Cruces, G., 2021. "The anatomy of behavioral responses to social assistance when informal employment is high," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    5. Julian Vedeler Johnsen & Katrine Holm Reiso, 2020. "Economic Effects of Workfare Reforms for Single Mothers: Benefit Substitution and Labour Supply Responses," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(2), pages 494-523, April.
    6. Palviainen Heikki, 2018. "Evaluation of the Finnish Income Disregard Reform," Working Papers 1819, Tampere University, Faculty of Management and Business, Economics.
    7. Palviainen Heikki, 2021. "Incentivizing last-resort social assistance clients: Evidence from a Finnish policy experiment," Working Papers 2132, Tampere University, Faculty of Management and Business, Economics.
    8. Avram, Silvia & Brewer, Mike & Salvatori, Andrea, 2018. "Can't work or won't work: Quasi-experimental evidence on work search requirements for single parents," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 63-85.
    9. Li, Liming & Avendano, Mauricio, 2023. "Lone parents' employment policy and adolescents’ socioemotional development: Quasi-experimental evidence from a UK reform," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    10. Lucy Kok & Caren Tempelman & Pierre Koning & Lennart Kroon & Caroline Berden, 2017. "Do Incentives for Municipalities Reduce the Welfare Caseload? Evaluation of a Welfare Reform in the Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 23-42, March.
    11. Heikki Palviainen, 2023. "Incentivizing last-resort social assistance clients: Evidence from a Finnish policy experiment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(1), pages 1-19, February.
    12. Vedeler Johnsen, Julian & Holm Reiso, Katrine, 2017. "Economic Impacts of Workfare Reforms for Single Mothers: Benefit Substitution and Labour supply responses," Working Papers in Economics 4/17, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Welfare; Single mothers; Policy experiment; Earnings disregard; Job creation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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