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Subgroups
Researchers randomly selected about 6,000 single parents, ages 19 and older, from a list of people who had received IA in the current month and 11 of the prior 12 months in British Columbia and New Brunswick. Those who consented to participate in the study were randomly assigned to intervention (SSP) and comparison groups between November 1992 and October 1994 with equal probability. From November 1994 to March 1995, the same process was used to randomly assign individuals in British Columbia, but those in New Brunswick were randomly assigned to three groups with equal probability. (The additional study group is examined in other study reviews). All study participants were eligible to participate in follow-up surveys conducted 18, 36, and 54 months after random assignment.
Random assignment occurred from November 1992 through March 1995. Sample members were followed for five years after their random assignment date.
Human Resources Development Canada
Among the sample responding to the 54-month follow-up survey, more than 40 percent had received IA each month in the three years before the study began, and a third had received IA in 24 to 35 of the previous 36 months. Almost all sample members (95 percent) had worked for pay at some point in the past. At the time of random assignment, 6 percent were employed full time, 13 percent were employed part time, 22 percent were not employed but looking for work, and 58 percent were neither employed nor looking for work. Nearly all sample members (96 percent) were female. All were single parents, and one-fifth of sample members were between the ages of 19 and 24. Slightly more than half (54 percent) had less than a high school education. More than one-quarter reported a physical or emotional problem that limited their activities. The authors noted that the IA systems in the two provinces in the study include people with disabilities who were not able to work. In the United States, similar recipients would be Supplemental Security Income clients, and not Temporary Assistance for Needy Families clients.
Social Research and Demonstration Corporation
SSP was a demonstration project created at the time of the evaluation.
The SSP offered financial incentives to work by providing an earnings supplement to eligible, former welfare recipients in two Canadian provinces. To be eligible, single parents who had been on IA for at least one year had to leave IA for full-time work (of at least 30 hours per week) within one year of entering the SSP program. They could sign up to receive an earnings supplement in the amount of half of the difference between their earnings from full-time work and a benchmark level, which was set separately for each province in each year. The supplement amount was not affected by unearned income, such as child support, and it roughly doubled the earnings of many low-wage workers. The earnings supplement was voluntary and lasted up to three years as long as participants continued to meet eligibility requirements.
People in the comparison group were IA clients who were not eligible to receive any SSP earnings supplements.
None.
Individuals could receive SSP payments for up to three years.
Human Resources Development Canada
British Columbia and New Brunswick, Canada
Mental health, Financial assets, Couple relationships, Family formation, Child well-being, Housing