Study Details | Pathways to Work

27882.02-Paycheck Plus: Employment Referral Services – Atlanta

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because the implementation of the randomized controlled trial was compromised and it does not adjust estimated impacts for potentially important differences between the intervention and comparison groups.

Intervention: Paycheck Plus: Employment Referral Services

Services provided:

Case management, Work readiness activities

Setting: Urban only

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

This study is a randomized controlled trial. To qualify for study enrollment, individuals had to: (1) be unmarried, (2) be a U.S. citizen or resident, (3) be between ages 21 to 64, (4) not have dependent children, (5) have an annual income less than $30,000, and (6) not be a recipient of or applicant for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Study enrollment took place from fall 2015 to spring 2016. After enrolling, participants were randomly assigned with equal probability to either receive the Paycheck Plus tax credit/bonus or not. Of those receiving the Paycheck Plus tax credit/bonus, half were randomly assigned to receive referral services (the intervention group) and the other half to receive only the tax credit/bonus (the comparison group). The study presents findings comparing the intervention group that received referral services to the comparison group that received only the tax credit, for only the subsample of participants across both groups who reported earnings less than $10,000 in the year before random assignment.

Time period of study:

April 2016 to March 2018.

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

Sample characteristics

Sex

Female	40%
Male	60%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	85%
White, not Hispanic	12%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	2%

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

Noncustodial parents

42%

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were employed

46%

Participant education

Had a high school diploma or GED	87%
Did not have a high school diploma or GED	13%

Specific employment barriers

Were formerly incarcerated

28%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

The program was provided through United Way of Greater Atlanta and its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) locations.

Intervention services:

The intervention consisted of adding referral services to a tax credit or "bonus" (worth up to $2,000) offered to workers with low incomes who did not have dependent children. Intervention participants received a call from a United Way counselor who referred them to the following services: employment assistance, basic skills training, GED preparation, health services, financial education and literacy, and support services (soup kitchens/food pantries, transitional housing, and general assistance). Participants were eligible to receive intervention services for three years.

Mandatory services:

None

Comparison services:

Participants in the comparison condition were workers with low incomes who did not have dependent children and who received the tax credit or bonus, but did not receive referral services.

Study publications

Miller, Cynthia, Caroline Schultz, and Alexandra Bernardi (2015). Testing an expanded earned income tax credit for single adults: Year 1 of Paycheck Plus, MDRC Policy Brief, New York, NY: MDRC. Available at https://www.mdrc.org/publication/testing-expanded-earned-income-tax-credit-single-adults.

Miller, Cynthia, Lawrence F. Katz, Edith Yang, Alexandra Bernardi, Adam Isen, and Kali Aloisi (2020). A more generous earned income tax credit for singles: Interim findings from the Paycheck Plus Demonstration in Atlanta, OPRE Report 2020-28. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/more-generous-earned-income-tax-credit-singles-interim-findings-paycheck-plus.

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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.

Study of Paycheck Plus: Employment Referral Services – Atlanta