Study Details | Pathways to Work

3022.01-Study of Self-Suffic

Study quality: High

High

Reason for the rating: This study received a high study quality rating because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition, suggesting the findings can be attributed to the program.

Program: Self-Sufficiency Project-Plus (SSP-Plus)

Characteristics of study participants:

Cash assistance recipients, Parents, Public benefits recipients, Single parents

Services provided:

Employment coaching, Financial education, Job placement, Job readiness, Job search assistance, Performance- or behavior-based financial incentives, Post-employment participant follow-up

Setting: Tested in multiple settings

Methods and Standards Protocol version used for review: Version 1.0

Learn about our protocol

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

Single parents ages 19 or older who had received New Brunswick Income Assistance in the month of random assignment and in at least 11 of the 12 previous months were randomly selected by the evaluator to undergo an interview with a Statistics Canada representative. During the interview, the interviewee provided baseline demographic information and could consent to participate in the study. From November 1994 to March 1995, eligible New Brunswick Income Assistance recipients were randomly assigned to one of three groups with equal probability: the SSP Plus (N = 293), SSP (N = 296), or control groups (N=303). This review focuses on the SSP Plus and control groups.

Time period of study:

Randomization took place from November 1994 to March 1995. This study presents 18-month, 36-month, and 54-month follow-up data.

Primary outcome domains examined:

Decrease short-term benefit receipt, Decrease long-term benefit receipt, Decrease very long-term benefit receipt

Other outcome domains examined:

Financial assets

Study funded by:

The study was funded by a contract with Human Resources Development Canada.

Results

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Outcome domain	Measure	Timing	Study quality by finding	Comparison group mean	Program group mean	Impact	Units	Sample size
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Average monthly rate of income assistance receipt, annual	Year 1	High	90.90	81.90	-9.00	percentage points	574
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Income assistance payments, annual	Year 1	High	7,752.00	7,083.00	-669.00	1996 Canadian dollars	574
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Amount of income assistance benefits, annual	Year 5	High	4,594.00	3,731.00	-863.00	1999 Canadian dollars	507
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Average monthly rate of income assistance receipt, annual	Year 5	High	54.50	42.90	-11.60	percentage points	507
Decrease very long-term benefit receipt	Amount of income assistance benefits, quarterly (annualized)	Quarter 22	High	3,913.00	3,492.00	-421.00	2000 Canadian dollars	507
Decrease very long-term benefit receipt	Average monthly rate of income assistance receipt, quarterly	Quarter 22	High	46.00	39.70	-6.40	percentage points	507

Short-term outcomes are those measured 18 months or fewer after participants are first offered services. Long-term outcomes are those measured between 18 months and 5 years after participants are first offered services. Very long-term outcomes are those measured 5 years or more after participants are first offered services.

Means are not displayed when not reported or not aligned with the impact estimates. For example, if the impact estimate is regression-adjusted but only unadjusted means are reported in the study, the unadjusted means are not displayed as they are not aligned with the adjusted impact estimate.

Impact estimates are not shown when the estimate units cannot be converted to natural units.

Findings quality key:

High
Moderate

Study quality terms?

The findings quality describe our confidence that a given study’s finding is because of the program. We do not display findings that rate low.

Findings key:

A moderate-to-large favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large favorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that might be due to chance
A favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A favorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that might be due to chance
An unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
An unfavorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size or direction
A finding of no effect that might be due to chance

Favorable findings are impacts in a direction that is socially desirable. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a study finding is due to the program, rather than due to chance. Findings are described as moderate-to-large if the program produced a sufficiently large change in the outcome. An impact receives this designation if the standardized effect size is equal to or greater than 0.25 or equal to or less than -0.25.

Sample characteristics

More than 95 percent of study sample members were female, most of whom had never been married (56 percent). More than half of sample members had not completed high school (52 percent). Although more than 90 percent had held a paying job at some point in the past, nearly half (44 percent) had received income assistance payments continuously over the past three years.

Age

Young adults (age 16-24)	25%
Adults (age 25+)	75%

Sex

Female	96%
Male	4%

Family status

Married	2%
Parents	100%
Single parents	98%

Employment and public benefit status

Were employed	77%
Were unemployed	23%
Public benefits recipients	100%
Were long-term cash assistance recipients	44%
Cash assistance recipients	100%

Education

Had some postsecondary education	10%
Had a high school diploma or GED	50%
Did not have a high school diploma or GED	50%

Specific employment barriers

Had a disability	12%
Had a mental illness	6%

Program implementation

Implementing organization:

Province SSP centers

Program history:

The SSP Plus program was conceived as part of the broader SSP demonstration and implemented simultaneously.

Program services:

SSP provided financial incentives to work by providing an earning supplement to eligible, former welfare recipients in two Canadian provinces. To be eligible, single parents who had been on income assistance for at least one year had to leave income assistance 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 earning 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 earning supplement was voluntary and lasted up to three years as long as participants continued to meet eligibility requirements. In addition, people in the SSP Plus group were eligible to receive several services to assist them with employment, including an employment plan, a resume service, job clubs, workshops, job coaching, and job leads. People assigned to this group could select among several services to meet their self-identified needs and could receive the services at any time in the year following random assignment. Participation in services was voluntary.

Mandatory services:

None.

Comparison services:

People in the control group were income assistance clients who were not eligible to receive any SSP services or earnings supplements.

Service receipt duration:

People in the SSP Plus group were eligible to receive additional services if they initiated participation in those services within a year of random assignment (duration of the services was not specified). They received an earnings supplement for up to three years.

Program funding:

Human Resources Development Canada

Study publications

Lei, Ying, and Charles Michalopoulos (2001). SSP Plus at 36 months: Effects of adding employment services to financial work incentives, Ottawa, Canada: SRDC. [SSP Plus versus Control.] Available at https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/SSP-Plus-36_Effects_of_adding_employment_2001.pdf.

Michalopoulos, Charles, Doug Tattrie, Cynthia Miller, Philip K. Robins, Pamela Morris, David Gyarmati, Cynthia Redcross, Kelly Foley, and Reuben Ford (2002). Making work pay: Final report on the Self-Sufficiency Project for long-term welfare recipients, Ottawa, Ontario: SDRC. [SSP Plus versus Control.] Available at https://www.mdrc.org/publication/final-report-self-sufficiency-project-long-term-welfare-recipients.

Quets, Gail, Philip K. Robins, Elsie C. Pan, Charles Michalopoulos, and David Card (1999). Does SSP Plus increase employment? The effect of adding services to the Self-Sufficiency Project’s financial incentives, Ottawa, Canada: SRDC.

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

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

Study of Self-Sufficiency Project-Plus (SSP-Plus)