Study Details | Pathways to Work

2947-Study of Year Up

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because it is a high-attrition randomized controlled trial that does not demonstrate that the intervention and comparison groups were sufficiently similar before the intervention.

Intervention: Year Up

Population and employment barriers:

Age (Young adults (age 16-24)), Educational attainment (At least a high school diploma or equivalent)

Services provided:

Case management, Employment coaching, Job development, Job readiness, Job search assistance, Occupational or sectoral training, Paid work experience/internships, Peer mentoring, Performance- or behavior-based financial incentives, Soft skills training, Stipends

Setting: Urban only

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

Eligible applicants to the Year Up program’s Boston, MA; New York City, NY; and Providence, RI sites were randomly assigned by evaluators to the intervention or comparison groups with an approximately 70 percent probability of assignment to the intervention group. Individuals were randomly assigned in September 2007 and followed through September 2011. The study reports both intent-to-treat and treatment-on-treated estimates of impacts.

Time period of study:

Individuals were randomly assigned in September 2007 and followed through September 2011.

Pathways only reports results from studies with a study quality rating of high or moderate.

Sample characteristics

Age

Young adults

100%

Sex

Female	43%
Male	57%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	50%
White	5%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	34%
Asian	3%
Unknown, not reported, or other	7%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

Family status

Parents

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were employed

43%

Participant education

Had a high school diploma or GED	100%
Postsecondary credential	1%
English learners	15%

Specific employment barriers

Were involved with the justice system

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

Year Up and local colleges

Intervention services:

Year Up offered young adults six months of technical skills training in information technology or investment operations fields. Year Up also included classes in business writing and communication, professional skills training, opportunities to earn college credit, and a six-month internship with a top company in the region. Participants received a weekly stipend and the support of social workers and mentors. Those who completed the program received job search or college application assistance.

Mandatory services:

None.

Comparison services:

Evaluators placed young adults assigned to the comparison condition on a 10-month waitlist and told those participants they could attend Year Up at that time. In the meantime, participants could participate in any education and training activities available to them in the community.

Study publications

Roder, Anne and Mark Elliott (2014). Sustained gains: Year Up's continued impacts on young adults' earnings, New York: Economic Mobility Corporation. Available at https://economicmobilitycorp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Sustained-Gains-Summary.pdf.

Roder, Anne, and Mark Elliott (2011). A promising start: Year Up’s initial impacts on low-income young adults’ careers, New York: Economic Mobility Corporation. Available at https://economicmobilitycorp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/A-Promising-Start.pdf.

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

The Pathways Clearinghouse refers to interventions by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some intervention names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.

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