Introduction
Work experience and work-based learning are two related strategies for helping people with low incomes improve employment and earnings outcomes. Work experience and work-based learning could include paid or unpaid work or learning experiences in a work setting, such as internships or community service jobs. Because programs providing work experience are a subset of work and work-based learning programs, this Evidence Snapshot summarizes the evidence on both of these types of programs. It summarizes what rigorous research tells us about seven programs that used work experience and work-based learning as their primary service and the programs’ impacts on earnings, employment, the receipt of public benefits, and education and training. The data come from 16 high- or moderate-quality studies that began between 1991 and 2013, were published through 2019, and were reviewed by the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse.
Primary Research Questions
- What does the evidence say about work experience and work-based learning programs for people with low incomes?
- Do work experience and work-based learning programs increase earnings, employment, or education or training, and do they reduce the receipt of public benefits?
- What are the most effective work experience and work-based learning programs?
Purpose
This Evidence Snapshot describes the effectiveness of programs that were identified by Pathways to Work as using work experience and work-based learning as their primary service. It summarizes what we know about these programs and their impacts so Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) administrators, policymakers, researchers, and the general public can apply the evidence to their context and the questions that matter to them.
Key Findings and Highlights
On average, work experience and work-based learning programs improved several outcomes. In particular, for program participants -- as compared with comparison groups that did not receive program services --
- Short-term annual earnings increased by $649, and long-term annual earnings increased by $713, on average, across the 6 work experience and work-based learning programs for which these outcomes were examined.
- Short-term employment increased by three percentage points, and long-term employment increased by four percentage points, on average, across the five work experience and work based-learning programs for which these outcomes were examined.
- On average, the proportion of people receiving public benefits and the amount of annual public benefits they received did not change across the five work experience and work based-learning programs for which these outcomes were examined.
- Most studies of work experience and work based-learning programs did not assess effects on education and training attainment; therefore, we do not know whether most work experience and work-based learning programs affected these outcomes.
- Three programs improved more than one type of outcome domain.
Methods
Pathways to Work assigned an effectiveness rating to each program in each of four outcome domains: earnings, employment, public benefit receipt, and education and training. The rating describes whether the program is likely to produce favorable results in that domain if faithfully replicated with a similar population.
For this snapshot, Pathways to Work calculated the average impact for each domain by averaging impacts within moderate- and high-quality studies, then within programs (because there may be multiple studies on a single program), and then across work experience and work-based learning programs. The average includes all studies, not just those with a supported rating or statistically significant findings, because these studies still provide useful evidence in considering the overall effectiveness of work experience and work-based learning programs.
This snapshot describes the programs using work experience and work-based learning that had positive impacts on earnings, employment, public benefit receipt, and/or education and training, and highlights programs that were effective in multiple outcome domains.
Citation
Shenk, Marisa, Erin Welch, and Sarah Dolfin (2022). Evidence Snapshot: Work experience and work-based learning, OPRE Report #2022-256, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
Primary service: Pathways to Work defines a program’s primary service as the principal service of the program. The primary service is (1) a component that a large proportion of program group members received and a large proportion of comparison group members did not and (2) the component that was described by the study authors as most integral to the theory of change tested by the study. programs may provide multiple services, but only one service is designated as primary.
Work experience: Pathways to Work defines work experience as work that is paid or unpaid, such as internships or community service jobs.
Work and work-based learning: Pathways to Work defines work and work-based learning as any paid or unpaid work or learning experiences that occur in a work setting.
