This series from MDRC explores what networks of organizations can accomplish in communities. The researchers are focusing on nine Chicago neighborhoods, combining social network analysis with in-depth interviews to see how community organizations can collaborate with one another on local improvement projects. Specifically, the researchers are studying how networks affect the power of individual community groups, how networks promote effective partnerships, how those partnerships can unite people from diverse communities, and how those networks change over time. The first two parts of the…
“Ban-the-Box” (BTB) policies restrict employers from asking about applicants’ criminal histories on job applications and are often presented as a means of reducing unemployment among black men, who disproportionately have criminal records. However, withholding information about criminal records could risk encouraging racial discrimination: employers may make assumptions about criminality based on the applicant's race. To investigate BTB’s effects, we sent approximately 15,000 online job applications on behalf of fictitious young male applicants to employers in New Jersey and New York City…
Paycheck Plus offers workers without dependent children an enhanced Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) worth up to $2,000 per year for three years (four times the current EITC for singles). Results after two years from a random assignment evaluation show that it has increased income and work rates. (Author abstract)
Jobs Plus promotes employment among public housing residents through employment services, rent rule changes that provide incentives to work, and community support for work. Within the first 18 months, all nine public housing agencies in this evaluation had begun structuring their programs, building partnerships, and implementing the model’s core components. (Author abstract)
One of the defining features of the “American Dream” is the ability to succeed despite being born indisadvantaged circumstances. But upward mobility, in the sense of doing better than your parents,appears to be on the wane. There is however a great deal of variation across the nation in ratesof upward mobility, and some of the greatest variation lies in the nation’s rural heartland. Whilesome rural counties exhibit the nation’s lowest rates of upward mobility, others can still lay claimto being “lands of opportunity,” ensuring that young residents are prepared to take on adulthoodand work…
This report measures how children from different racial backgrounds are faring in the United States and focuses particularly on children in immigrant families. The data presented are drawn from 2013-2015, and indicate significant racial and ethnic inequities among children, with Asian and Pacific Islander and white children generally doing better in almost every area of child well-being than their African-American, Latino, and American Indian peers. The data also indicate the number of children living in low poverty neighborhoods has decreased across all groups. Following an introduction,…
Training Materials, Fact Sheet
This toolkit provides ideas, strategies, and resources for integrating service delivery in the public workforce system. It is the second edition of this toolkit which is now updated to include, along with many of the original valuable resources, new strategies, and resources to support implementation under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). With a new law in place and limited resources, it is more important than ever for workforce partners across state, regional, and local levels to share a common vision, integrate service strategies, and streamline service delivery to…
According to GAO's analysis of data in the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), on average, low-wage workers worked fewer hours per week, were more highly concentrated in a few industries and occupations, and had lower educational attainment than workers earning hourly wages above $16 in each year GAO reviewed-1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2016. Their percentage of the U.S. workforce also stayed relatively constant over time. About 40 percent of the U.S. workforce ages 25 to 64 earned hourly wages of $16 or less (in constant 2016 dollars) over the period 1995 through 2016. The…
This desk reference is for state and local boards and staff and provides information on serving priority populations using WIOA Adult funds - recipients of public assistance, low-income individuals, individuals who are basic skills deficient, and veterans. (Author abstract)
After years of continuing resolutions, Congress replaced the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) with the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA). WIOA continues WIA’s emphasis on universal services for both job seekers and employers, but includes provisions intended to improve the workforce development system overall. As state and local agencies and workforce boards implement changes introduced with WIOA, they must consider how they will serve customers with barriers to employment and improve current practices. This brief examines how services for low-income adults and…
