Thursday, December 20, 2007
Tweet[IWS] Brookings: NEW HOPE: FULLFILLING AMERICA'S PROMISE to "MAKE WORK PAY"
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Brookings Institution
The Hamilton Project
New Hope: Fulfilling America's Promise to "Make Work Pay"
Hans Bos, Berkeley Policy Associates
Greg J. Duncan. Northwestern University
Lisa A. Gennetian, Brookings Institution
Heather D. Hill, Taubman Center for Public Policy, Brown University
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2007/12_work_gennetian.aspx
or
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/12_work_gennetian/12_work_gennetian.pdf
[full-text, 36 pages]
Abstract
Despite the political rhetoric of "making work pay," in 2005 some 3.7 million households
included a full-time worker and yet lived in poverty. Our paper makes the case for
a national program offering the kind of work supports that were part of the New Hope
program, a policy experiment that operated for three years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in
the mid- to late-1990s. New Hope was created by a coalition of community activists and
business leaders. It provided a set of work supports for full-time workers—parents and
nonparents, men and women—that would lift them out of poverty, ensure that they had
access to quality child care and health insurance and, if needed, provide a temporary community
service job to help get them on their feet.
A random-assignment evaluation of New Hope showed that the program reduced poverty,
increased employment and, perhaps most importantly, boosted the achievement and positive
behavior of children. We estimate that a scaled-up New Hope program would cost
roughly $3,300 per participant per year and that, with reasonable assumptions regarding
the valuation of child impacts, would yield benefits well in excess of costs.
Evidence from other states and two Canadian provinces suggest that New Hope could be
implemented by states. Given the different ways in which states would likely implement
the New Hope model to fit their unique needs and delivery systems, we propose a fiveyear
demonstration and evaluation in five states.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Brookings Institution
The Hamilton Project
New Hope: Fulfilling America's Promise to "Make Work Pay"
Hans Bos, Berkeley Policy Associates
Greg J. Duncan. Northwestern University
Lisa A. Gennetian, Brookings Institution
Heather D. Hill, Taubman Center for Public Policy, Brown University
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2007/12_work_gennetian.aspx
or
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/12_work_gennetian/12_work_gennetian.pdf
[full-text, 36 pages]
Abstract
Despite the political rhetoric of "making work pay," in 2005 some 3.7 million households
included a full-time worker and yet lived in poverty. Our paper makes the case for
a national program offering the kind of work supports that were part of the New Hope
program, a policy experiment that operated for three years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in
the mid- to late-1990s. New Hope was created by a coalition of community activists and
business leaders. It provided a set of work supports for full-time workers—parents and
nonparents, men and women—that would lift them out of poverty, ensure that they had
access to quality child care and health insurance and, if needed, provide a temporary community
service job to help get them on their feet.
A random-assignment evaluation of New Hope showed that the program reduced poverty,
increased employment and, perhaps most importantly, boosted the achievement and positive
behavior of children. We estimate that a scaled-up New Hope program would cost
roughly $3,300 per participant per year and that, with reasonable assumptions regarding
the valuation of child impacts, would yield benefits well in excess of costs.
Evidence from other states and two Canadian provinces suggest that New Hope could be
implemented by states. Given the different ways in which states would likely implement
the New Hope model to fit their unique needs and delivery systems, we propose a fiveyear
demonstration and evaluation in five states.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 4:18 PM
