Where can I find information on the cost or cost-effectiveness of a program?
The Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse provides cost information for programs with a cost study that is associated with an impact study reviewed by Pathways to Work, regardless of the impact study quality rating. When reported, details on cost information are located on the program page between the effectiveness findings and implementation details. All cost information reported on the website is based on data reported by study authors. We report costs in 2024 dollars, adjusting dollar amounts for inflation from the year in which they are reported in the study. (Pathways to Work selects the year based on the most recently available data used for the inflation adjustment and periodically updates the year as new inflation data becomes available.) If a study reports a range of years and does not convert dollars into a common year, Pathways to Work attempts to identify the midpoint of the range as the basis for the inflation conversion. Where there are multiple cost studies of a program, we report the lowest and highest values across those studies in the summary table and individual findings in the cost information description. For cost-benefit analyses, we report the net benefit for the selected perspective, defined as the net program benefits (difference in benefits between the program and comparison group) minus the net program costs. A positive net benefit indicates net benefits were greater than net costs, whereas a negative net benefit indicates the net benefits were less than the net costs.
Pathways to Work presents estimates of total program costs when available. If authors only report costs for a time period other than the total cost of the program (e.g., annual or monthly costs), we report the cost indicated in the study in the summary table. We then attempt to estimate an inferred total cost based on an average or typical program length reported in the study, if available, and report that estimate in the cost information description.
Pathways to Work also applies prioritization rules to select cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness outcomes for display in the summary table when multiple estimates are provided in studies. For cost-benefit analyses, Pathways to Work prioritizes cost-benefit perspectives for display in the summary table as follows: participant, government, society, program implementer, funder, taxpayer, and then all other perspectives. For cost-effectiveness analyses, Pathways to Work prioritizes reporting up to one short-term and up to one long-term outcome as follows: employment, earnings, and public benefit receipt. If only education and training cost-effectiveness outcomes are reported, then up to one education and training outcome is prioritized for display. Within outcome domains, the outcome prioritization rules specified in the Protocol for the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse are used to select the outcome prioritized for reporting in the summary table.
Because the cost information is based on data reported by study authors, cost information is not directly comparable across programs. The types of costs reported across programs vary, as does the amount of time that programs lasted. The Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse has developed new standards for cost analyses (i.e., cost estimates), cost-effectiveness analyses, and cost-benefit analyses that are described in the Protocol for the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse.