Panel Lebensqualität und Teilhabe - Feld- und Methodenbericht der Welle 3

"This method report describes the third wave of the panel survey "Quality of Life and Social Participation". It covers the study design, questionnaires, organization of the field work, field outcomes, and data preparation of wave 3. The panel survey is part of the evaluation of the Teilhabechancengesetz (Participation Opportunities Act), which is conducted by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). The central goal of the Teilhabechancengesetz is to improve the employability and social participation of the long-term unemployed as well as those who have been receiving means-tested unemployment benefits according to Social Code (SC) II for a long time and have very poor labour market prospects (Deutscher Bundestag 2019). The Teilhabechancengesetz comprises two measures of active labor market policy: Eingliederung von Langzeitarbeitslosen (Integration of the long-term unemployed) (§ 16e SGB II) and Teilhabe am Arbeitsmarkt (Participation in the labor market) (§ 16i SGB II), which essentially consist of wage subsidies accompanied by coaching for participants. The panel data provides the basis for analyzing the impact of the two subsidy programs according to § 16e and § 16i SGB II on the employability and social participation of those supported. The survey design is based on a program-specific sampling, which results in a dual-frame approach with two independent surveys – the 16e-panel and the 16i-panel. Telephone interviews (CATI) are conducted with participants in the respective programmes according to § 16e and § 16i SGB II (respective treatment groups) as well as with non-participant welfare recipients in the above mentioned programs (respective control groups). The study design encompasses three (16e-panel) and four (16i-panel) panel waves to examine the short-term, medium-term and long-term effects of participation in the respective program. It should be noted that all interviews took place after the individuals started participating in the respective program. The maximum duration of an employment subsidy is five years for participants according to § 16i SGB II, while employment subsidies are granted for two years for participants according to § 16e SGB II. At the time of the wave 3 interview, nearly all of the treatment cases in the 16e-panel had completed the programme, whereas those in the 16i-panel may still have been receiving support. Accordingly, wave 3 has a conceptually different objective for the target group of the respective program. The 16i-panel is concerned with measuring the medium-term effects of program participation. By contrast, the 16e-panel is designed to investigate the effects of programme participation after the end of the subsidy. Consequently, wave 3 constitutes the final interview for the 16e-panel. The personal questionnaire focuses primarily on individual social participation and employability as central target dimensions of the evaluation, as well as on the characteristics of the support received by the programme participants, in particular on-the-job coaching. The interview in wave 1 included the comprehensive measurement of social participation (see Hülle et al. 2022). With wave 2, a more differentiated measurement of employability was implemented by surveying further dimensions in the fields of "skills" and "job search". In addition, a newly developed question module on “further education” was fielded and the question module on “coaching” was expanded to also gather information on the reasons for non-participation or the termination of the coaching (Hülle et al. 2023). Wave 3 largely repeated the central contents of the previous waves to enable in order to assess the change and stability of the examined constructs over time, thereby strengthening the panel character of the study. In addition, the questionnaire was expanded to encompass elements pertaining to the sustainability of the programme's impact beyond the conclusion of its support period, as well as the potential transition from subsidized employment to unsubsidized employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))